Vworp On!
by 10Blue10
Summary: Best friends Cerise Woods and Marina Rosenthorpe are on their way home, when a Time Rift pulls them into the Doctor's universe. The two Whovians track down the Doctor, and make it their mission to pull him out of his depression whilst he attempts to get them back home. Can the girls get through to the Doctor, and can the Doctor handle the girls?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

A/N: I, 10blue10, and my best friend are co-writing a self-insert fanfiction. The basics of the first ten chapters are planned out so updates should be less sporadic, although we both do have studying to do. Eugh.

So without further ado…

Vworp On 

Chapter One 

It was a gloomy autumn day, and a brisk wind sent litter skidding across the cracked pavement. "Someone really ought to clean this place up" said Cerise Woods. "Yeah, this isn't good for the environment" agreed her best friend, Marina Rosenthorpe. The girls were on their way to Marina's house for a sleepover, and had decided to take a shortcut through the old town. "It always creeps me out, walking around here" commented Cerise, "it almost feels like something really bad could happen at any moment".

Marina was just about to agree, when there was a huge rushing roaring noise. "What on earth is that!" she cried in alarm. Cerise looked up at the cloudy sky. "It's probably just an aeroplane or something…uh, Marina?"

Cerise pointed upwards at the sky. A thin crack had appeared in the clouds, but instead of revealing blue sky, it was all just white. Then a light fell down over the ground, and began to rush towards them. "What do we do?" asked Marina. Cerise grabbed her hand and yelled "Run!"

Turning tail, they tried to run away from the ever expanding sliver of light; but they just couldn't run fast enough. One minute they were surrounded by rundown terraced houses and weedy patches, and the next they were engulfed in a bright white light. Cerise and Marina screamed and held onto each other's hands as they felt themselves being sucked up into goodness knew what.

/

The girls slowly opened their eyes, and found themselves in strange surroundings. It was snowing, and the streets were dark, but old-fashioned lampposts brightened things up. "Where are we?" Cerise asked. "Well if I'm not mistaken, I think we've travelled back to Victorian times!" Marina explained. "That weird light must have sent us back in time!"

Cerise couldn't believe it. They got to their feet and sneaked down to the end of the alley, peering out from the shadows. All the houses were covered in smoky grime, and horses pulled hansom cabs back and forth across the cobbled street. There weren't many people outside, but those that were wore gowns and top hats. Cerise pulled Marina back into the darkness of the alley. "What are we gonna do?" she asked worriedly.

"Well we're not just gonna stand here. I think we should investigate, and find someone who knows more about where we are," said Marina, "We have our own little mystery adventure here, and I want to find out what's what".

Cerise shook her head and said "Marina, I think you're forgetting something. We're both wearing _jeans. _You're wearing trainers. _Modern day clothes. _If anyone sees us dressed like this, they'll think we're witches or something! Of course, it is pretty dark out…maybe if we stay in the shadows, we can find out where we are. I've got a funny feeling we're not in our home town anymore" she explained.

"Oh Cerise, don't worry. I've got this one covered. I've got two gowns in my bag from drama class, and I think they'll fit us both. So that way we can blend in." Marina explained, resourcefully. "And we don't have to hide, I think I see someone at the end of this street, I think we should speak to her. After we get changed of course".

It seemed like a bit of a deus ex machina, but Cerise wasn't about to complain. "OK, come on. Pull them out and we'll, just put them on over our clothes" she said. So Marina put down her rucksack and pulled out two puffy dresses, one crimson and one periwinkle blue. Cerise pulled on the blue dress whilst Marina put on the red dress. They weren't very comfortable, but at least the girls didn't look so out of place.

They walked back to the end of the alley, hiding their bags under their dresses. As they walked up they saw a young girl carrying some swords. Marina said, "I recognise those swords, they belong to someone called Madame Vastra. Then that means this girl is her companion Jenny". "Of course, so that means…" said Cerise, excitedly. "They are the friends and allies of the Doctor!" both girls said excitedly.

Up ahead, Jenny turned to face them and Cerise and Marina realised they'd said it out loud. "'Ere, what are you doing out so late?" asked the cockney girl. Cerise bravely stepped forwards and asked "Um, sorry to bother you but, do you know where we can find the Doctor?"

Jenny looked puzzled. "Which doctor?" she asked, and Cerise grinned. "Don't you mean, Doctor Who?" she asked. The maid's eyes widened in recognition, and then she too smiled. "Follow me" she told the girls, beckoning to them.

Jenny took the girls to her hansom cab, with her friend Commander Strax driving. "Hello Strax." said Marina, politely. "How do you know my name?" replied Strax. Marina was about to answer, but Cerise stopped her and said, "No not yet, we don't want him to think we're enemies."

Strax probably already thought they were possible enemies, but Marina decided not to press it. "You two aren't from 'round here, are ya?" asked Jenny as she held open the door to the hansom. Marina climbed inside, and Cerise answered, "Oh, you have no idea". They rattled their way through the cobbled streets and pulled up outside quite a large house. Through the window of the cab, Marina could see the Tower of London. "Cerise, we're in London!" she said in surprise.

They climbed out of the hansom, and Jenny led them up into the house whilst Strax led away the horse. The heavy oak door was opened by Madame Vastra, who was surprised to find Jenny on the doorstep with two young women. "I've bought the swords, ma'am; and these two are looking for the Doctor" explained Jenny, gesturing to Cerise and Marina.

Madame Vastra looked out into the dimly lit street and beckoned them to come inside. It was swelteringly hot inside the house, with a roaring fire sending waves of heat through the foliage filled sitting room. Madame Vastra gestured for their guests to take a seat, and Cerise and Marina did so. Marina looked nervous, and Cerise reached over and gave her best friend a hug.

"What are your names?" asked Madame Vastra.

"Um, well I'm Marina Rosenthorpe, and this is my best friend, Cerise Woods" answered Marina. Cerise smiled awkwardly and said "it's nice to meet you, I mean really, it's an honour". At this, Marina nodded enthusiastically and said "Oh yes, because we actually know who you two are! Where we come from, you guys and Strax and the Doctor are all part of a television show called Doctor Who".

Madame Vastra didn't seem perturbed by this information, and Jenny was just confused. "What's a television?" she asked Vastra, who replied, "a device from the future, my dear, that makes moving images appear on a screen. You say there is a show based on the Doctor?" she asked the girls. Cerise nodded and explained, "The show is a series of forty five minute long episodes, showing the Doctor's adventures. There are books and games as well, which are part of what we call the Doctor Who canon; err, canon as in part of the show, not an actual cannon".

"How did you come to be in this place and time?" asked Madame Vastra. Marina replied "We're not sure, really. We were walking back to my house for a sleepover, when this…this crack appeared in the sky and we got sucked up by this white light".

Cerise spoke up. "Um, what's the date today?" she asked. "It's Sunday the twenty seventh of November, 1892" answered Jenny, and the two girls looked at each other in shock. "1892! Wow, we came back a long way," said Marina, "it was the twenty sixth of October 2013 when we left".

They couldn't believe it; they had actually _time travelled. _Not only that, but they were in the universe of their favourite TV character. Marina and Cerise grinned excitedly at each other and high fived, before hugging.

"The Doctor doesn't help anyone, not anymore. What makes you think he will help the two of you?" asked Madame Vastra. Cerise and Marina both realised that this must be after 'The Angels Take Manhattan'; the Doctor must still be mourning the Ponds. Marina frowned, and said worriedly "He wouldn't just abandon us, would he?"

Cerise shook her head. "No, because we're not gonna let him. We're not going to just say, oh he's moping, let's come back another time; we're gonna climb right up that staircase, and we're gonna walk right into the TARDIS and _demand _that he help us!" she said firmly, getting to her feet. Marina jumped to her feet as well, and Madame Vastra smiled. "Well, you're certainly determined. Very well, we will take you to the Doctor. Jenny, tell Strax to fetch the hansom; and put those swords away".

Jenny curtsied and hurried off to carry out these orders. The girls were practically jumping up and down in excitement. "I can't believe we're gonna meet the Doctor!" Marina squealed happily. Cerise couldn't wipe the grin off her face. "I know right? It's so cool...err, but if we're gonna be climbing up a ladder like in the episode I am not wearing this stupid thing, possible riots or not" she decided, pulling off the cumbersome dress and straightening her tan jacket.

Marina took off her dress as well, stowing them both safely in her rucksack. "We're gonna stick out like sore thumbs" she said solemnly, and Cerise shrugged. "Such is the life of a Whovian" she replied, and then both girls burst out giggling. Jenny returned, and announced that the hansom was ready. She, Vastra, Marina and Cerise rode in the hansom cab through the streets of London.

The cab stopped, and when Marina peeked out of the window she could see only a high brick wall. "This doesn't look like the park that the Doctor's supposed to be in" she said in confusion. "It isn't far, we must walk the rest of the way, the cab can go no further" replied Madame Vastra. So they all climbed out and began to walk through the streets; or rather, the gap between the rows of back to back houses, where they were less likely to be seen.

They were forced to go in single file, and as Marina passed an alleyway, she felt someone grab her around the neck and screamed. Cerise punched her best friend's attacker in the side of the head. He let go of the terrified Marina and stared at her furiously, pulling back his own fist and throwing a punch right at her face. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline talking, but Cerise dodged the punch, shoved his arm out of the way and caught him in the nether regions with the heel of her boot.

The man groaned and doubled over, before Jenny karate chopped him and he crumpled in a heap. They found themselves cut off on both sides of the passage by two more thugs. "Bridge" Cerise said to Marina as one of their attackers came running towards them; Marina knew what her friend meant and nodded. They held hands, facing the man head on; and at the last minute, ducked and made a bridge with their arms.

Their would-be attacker crashed straight into their arms and toppled forwards. With a sudden shove, Cerise and Marina managed to flip him right over and onto his back, before standing on his hands. The man squinted up at them and exclaimed, shocked, "You're girls!"

"You're ugly" replied Cerise, before giving Marina a double high five. Madame Vastra and Jenny had already made short work of the other man. "I'll admit I'm rather impressed. You handled yourselves well" commented Madame Vastra, whilst Jenny was busy tying the men up. "Thanks, yeah, we took self-defence classes once" explained Marina. "Permission to destroy these assassins?" asked Strax. Everyone ignored him.

The rest of the walk was much more uneventful, but all five of them kept a much sharper eye out. Madame Vastra reached up and pulled the ladder down from thin air, before gesturing to the girls to climb up it. Cerise pulled the strap of her bag over her head so it hung across her shoulder, and began to climb up the ladder and then the invisible staircase.

Marina and Vastra followed, whilst Strax and Jenny remained on guard on the ground. "You can almost see the whole city from here" said Cerise as they climbed the staircase. "Yeah, the view is really beautiful" Marina agreed.

At last they reached the cloud at the top of the staircase. With a deep breath, Cerise stepped off the solid feeling final step and onto the cloud. It sank a little under her weight, but she didn't fall straight through, which she considered to be very fortunate. "I feel like a pegasus" she grinned. Madame Vastra approached the door of the TARDIS, and rapped smartly four times in quick succession.

A few moments later, it swung open and a ghostly bluish green light silhouetted the familiar form of the Doctor. "Vastra? What are you doing up here?" he asked in surprise. The silurian replied "I have here two people in need of your help; this is Cerise, and Marina". She stepped aside so that the Doctor could see the two girls standing behind her, who both waved nervously at him.

The Doctor sighed. "Come in" he said rather sourly. The silurian and the two humans entered the amazing blue box, and the girls looked around in awe. "We're really in the TARDIS!" Marina said delightedly.

"You know about the TARDIS?" asked the Doctor. He could tell that the pair was not from the Victorian era; Cerise wore navy blue jeans, black boots and a long sleeved shirt under a tan jacket. Marina was dressed in similar clothing, but with white and pink trainers and a woolly cardigan. "They both come from a different universe, Doctor, where your adventures are a television show" explained Madame Vastra, and the girls nodded in agreement.

"It's true, and we really need your help to get home" said Marina. The Doctor turned his back to them and began fiddling with the console panel. "I don't help people, anymore. I'm retired".

"What about a trade?" Cerise asked. This caught the Doctor's attention, and he turned around again, frowning at her. Cerise gulped nervously and continued, "While you're figuring out a way to find our universe, we'll figure out a way to…to bring Amy and Rory back from the past without causing a paradox" she suggested.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "That's not even possible" he protested, smiling in amusement at her apparent naivety. "Says who?" asked Cerise.

"If it was possible I would have figured it out by now. If there's one thing I've learned from saving the universe it's that the universe doesn't care" the Doctor said bitterly. Cerise folded her arms and said firmly ""_We do_….so, is it a deal?"

The Doctor stared at her for a moment that seemed to last forever, before holding out his hand to shake, "….Deal".

/

A/N: And so the fun begins!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On 

Chapter Two 

Cerise released the Doctor's hand, jumping up and down inside her mind just for sheer joy. _I have just shaken the Doctor's hand!_ she thought gleefully.

"I ought to take my leave; it was good to meet you both" said Madame Vastra. "Oh yes, we really enjoyed meeting you too" Marina agreed eagerly. "Thanks for all your help, Madame Vastra; oh, and say thanks to Jenny for us too, will you?" Cerise added as an afterthought. Vastra nodded her head and turned to bid goodbye to the Doctor. "It is good to see you helping again, old friend" she said. The Doctor did not reply.

After Madame Vastra had left the TARDIS, the Doctor turned to Cerise and Marina, who both smiled politely at him. "Listen closely, you two; there are some ground rules I need to explain. One, you are not allowed into any room that has Gallifreyan writing on the door. Two, you cannot leave the TARDIS and go outside without telling me exactly where you're going" he told them firmly.

Marina and Cerise glanced at one another for a moment, before nodding. "So if we can't explore outside the TARDIS, can we explore _inside _the TARDIS?" asked Cerise. The Doctor sighed and rubbed his temples. "Yes, yes, fine. Go on, there are some guest bedrooms down that corridor there. You're going to be here a while; there are millions of parallel universes out there" he grumbled.

"Ours is the one with the sign saying 'No Salesmen or Jehovah's Witnesses Allowed'" Cerise joked, trying to make the Doctor laugh. Marina sniggered, and she swore the Doctor's lips twitched into a smile, but he refused to react any more than that. Sighing, Cerise tugged her best friend out of the control room.

The guest bedrooms were quite Spartan and plain, with white and grey striped covers and pillows on the beds, and sparsely decorated en-suites. "It's like a prison…the TARDIS has become a prison" sighed Cerise, sitting on the bed. Marina sat down beside her. "Cerise? I'm…I'm kind of scared. What if we can't get home again?" she asked nervously.

Cerise wrapped an arm around Marina's shoulders. "We'll be fine, don't worry. We needed the Doctor's help, and now we've found him. But he needs our help too. This whole room…all of these rooms are _wrong. _There should be bunk beds and starry ceilings and tanks filled with goldfish named Jim and...Marina, as long as we're here, we've got to try to get the real Doctor back, not this dark, brooding, miserable one".

Marina nodded in determined agreement. Suddenly, something occurred to Cerise and she rifled through her satchel, pulling out her iPhone. There was no service or internet connection. "So much for calling home" she sighed. It finally began to be clear, just what had happened to them. There was a chance that their families would never see them again. Marina began to cry.

"Hey, it's okay Marina. Don't cry, it's okay, we'll be fine. Promise" Cerise said comfortingly, even though she was on the verge of crying too. They wiped their eyes and blew their noses with a few ragged tissues pulled out of pockets. "C-can I sleep in here with you, just tonight?" asked Marina. Cerise smiled and nodded. "Sure, of course. What are best friends for? C'mon, let's explore a bit more. Maybe we can find the swimming pool".

As they explored the winding corridors of the TARDIS, it wasn't long before they came across a door covered in the familiar circular Gallifreyan writing. "What do you think is in there?" asked Marina, and Cerise replied "I think these are his companions' bedrooms; we shouldn't be around here. Let's try the other way". Before they could walk down the corridor, the Doctor appeared from a side door, blocking their path.

"What are you two doing there?" he demanded, striding towards them. "I told you not to go in these rooms".

Cerise glared defiantly at him. "_Actually, _we were just leaving. We haven't even touched the handle. So if don't mind, _Doctor, _Marina and I are going to find a kitchen" she retorted, before grabbing Marina's hand and walking away. "Wait!" the Doctor called from behind him. The girls looked back at him. The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his rumpled hair. "I'll show you where the kitchen is" he offered.

"Oh, okay. Thank you" said Marina. "Yeah, and I forgive you" added Cerise; because although she wasn't always good at reading between lines, it seemed obvious that he was trying to apologise. So maybe there was hope after all.

They had a very nice meal of spicy fajitas for dinner, cooked by the girls. The Doctor merely stood on the sidelines and pointed out where the ingredients and utensils were. It was strange; by not getting in the way and mucking things up trying to help, he was actually annoying Cerise even more. It wasn't even just cooking, but his whole life in general.

Cerise placed the dishes into the dishwasher and asked the Doctor where the cleaning tablets were. "There are none. The TARDIS will clean the dishes automatically, just close the door" he explained. So she closed the door and sure enough, the machine began to rumble. "Wow, that's clever" said Marina.

"Yeah well, I'm not so easily impressed. I really want to see the Crystal Palace; what about you, Mar?" asked Cerise. Marina thought about it and answered, "Yeah, yeah that sounds really cool".

They looked over at the Doctor. "So how about it? A quick trip into next morning won't kill you; in fact you could even land _at _the Crystal Palace, save us all walking through these dangerous streets. Oh" Cerise frowned, "but you're retired, aren't you? That's too bad. I guess we'll just have to stay up here, in your way". She sat down again and began to tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap on the table.

The Doctor frowned at her. "Don't do that" he insisted, but Cerise ignored him. "I tap when I'm bored" she explained carelessly, still drumming her finger on the table. Tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap – "OK, fine, we'll go to the Crystal Palace; but only this one trip, understand?" the Doctor warned them sternly. "Whatever you say, boss. Come on, Marina, let's find something to wear!"

The Time Lord sighed and followed his new charges out of the kitchen, switching off the lights as he went. Well…perhaps a bit of fresh air would do him good.

/

"I have one word, and one word only. _Wow_" Cerise said admiringly. "I'll say" added Marina, as they stared up at the impressive plated glass structure of London's Crystal Palace, the warm summer sunlight shining in beautiful streaks through the clear walls and ceiling. The girls were dressed in old fashioned gowns, but these ones were much more comfortable and less restrictive than Marina's costumes. It was funny to think that in this time period, these clothes were actually modern.

It appeared that regardless of the century, crowds of tourists were always pushy, impatient and didn't appear to care much if they carelessly stepped on one's toes. It wasn't long before Marina and Cerise became separated from the Doctor, as they wandered through the exhibits looking with interest at inventions and architectural features. They soon found their way to the Lily House, which contained a species of giant water lily, _Victoria Regia, _according to the brass inscription on the side of the pond.

"Ooh, they're beautiful" smiled Marina. "And exotic. It's a little bit of the Amazon in Hyde Park, London, England" Cerise pointed out with a chuckle. She looked over to the other side of the pool; a little boy was climbing up onto the railings, unnoticed by his mother. Cerise had a bad feeling about what might happen and walked quickly around the edge of the pool.

The child's mother glanced over at her son and saw him crouched on the bar, leaning out over the water. "Samuel!" she cried in alarm. Her shrill voice startled several visitors, including Samuel himself, whose feet slipped over the bar. He toppled forwards onto the lily pad, which slipped out from under him and bobbed back to the surface as the boy sank like a stone.

"Help!" shrieked his mother, "oh heavens, help! He can't swim!" Cerise impulsively stepped up onto the edge of the pool, briefly wondered what the hell she was doing, sucked in a large breath and jumped.

Leaping into a deep pond filled with murky water, dressed in a cumbersome gown, when she wasn't the best of swimmers, was perhaps not Cerise's most brilliant idea. She swam underwater towards where she thought the boy had fallen in, and soon her outstretched hands were hit by his thrashing legs. Cerise swam nearer and grabbed the boy around his waist, before struggling up to the surface.

She'd never been gladder to see sunlight before then. Marina was at the edge of the pool, encouraging her to swim over. Samuel wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, which on the bright side freed her arms at least. "Hold on" Cerise advised him, before swimming the short distance to the lower side of the pond and heaving him up onto the side.

Samuel's mother pulled her son well out of the way of the pool and checked him over, scolding him. "I told you not to climb up there, didn't I? I told you so! Thank you, lass" she said gratefully to Cerise, who by now had been helped out of the pond by Marina. "That was very brave of you. You say thank you, young man" she instructed Samuel, who looked up at Cerise and bluntly said "Thank you".

Cerise smiled and replied "I'm glad I could help. Um, if you'll excuse me, I should get cleaned up", aware that she was still soaking wet and covered in what she really hoped was just silt. Samuel's mother, whose name was Mrs Jones, offered to treat Cerise and Marina both to cups of tea at the outdoor café. The café was situated on the edge of the glass structure, open to the elements and the pleasantly warm sun.

With many towels commandeered to soak up the water from Cerise and Samuel's clothing, and four piping hot cups of tea, everyone was soon dried off and arranged around a corner table. As they sat sipping their tea and making small talk, Mrs Jones frowned at something or someone over Marina's shoulder and sighed. "Oh, what is _he _doing here?"

"Who?" Marina asked, looking over her shoulder. Cerise did likewise, and nearly choked on her tea. "Mar, that's William Blake!" she gasped, staring in awe at the poet sitting just a few tables away from them. "The madman?" piped up Samuel, craning his neck to get a glimpse of Blake. Cerise felt a sudden urge to defend her favourite poet. "I wouldn't say mad, more like…interesting" she said lightly.

Mrs Jones scoffed. "He is mad, girl, believe me. The man claims to see angels and demons" she said in irritation. "I'm afraid I simply cannot sit here with that man nearby; come along, Samuel. Are you both accompanying us?" Mrs Jones asked Cerise and Marina. "Err, no, I think we'll just stay here, thanks" replied Marina. "Yes, but it was lovely to meet you. Thank you for the tea, ma'am" Cerise added politely.

When Mrs Jones and Samuel had left, the girls held a quick whispered conference before walking over to Blake's table. He was frowning at a few pieces of parchment and muttering himself. "Um, excuse me, Mr Blake?" Cerise said nervously. She worried that she might have spoken too quietly when Blake didn't react, but then the poet glanced up at them and frowned. "I don't have time to be bothered" he sighed, waving them away.

"Sorry, we don't mean to bother you, it's just we're huge fans; I mean, we enjoy your poetry, especially _The Songs of Innocence and Experience" _Cerise explained, sitting down opposite Blake. Marina sat down next to her. "Is that a new poem?" she asked curiously, pointing to the papers on the wooden table.

Blake shook his head and tucked the pieces of parchment into his waistcoat pocket. "Merely a few notes on various matters; so you actually read my poems, hmm? That is a first. Most people seem to believe I'm insane and belong in an asylum" he sighed. "If you ask me everyone's a bit insane" said Cerise. "Yeah, we don't think you're insane. We think you're interesting" added Marina. Blake seemed to brighten up a little. "Well then, I thank you both".

"Where have you two been?" Cerise and Marina both jumped when the Doctor appeared, seemingly from nowhere, behind them. "We could ask you the same thing" replied Cerise. "Are these your daughters?" asked Blake. The Doctor looked up and blinked in stunned recognition. "You're William Blake! I've always wanted to meet you; I've read every single one of your poems".

The poet sighed and nodded. "Alas, yes. Hark, another who in fact reads my prints and doesn't merely smash them for sport. This is a bright day indeed" he said, a little sarcastically. "It was nice to meet you, now if you'll please excuse me, I think I will leave before the proprietor decides to have me thrown out for 'scaring away the customers'".

"Wait! Um, d'you think I could have your autograph, please?" Cerise asked eagerly. Blake hesitated, before pulling a sheet of paper out and tearing the blank half off at the bottom. He scribbled his signature on to it and pushed it towards her; Cerise picked it up and stared at it, grinning. _I can't believe I'm holding something that was touched by William Blake! _

"Hey, Doctor, guess what? Whilst we were in the Lily Room, this boy called Samuel fell into the water, and Cerise jumped right in and saved him! She's a real hero" Marina said proudly, smiling at her best friend. The Doctor looked at Cerise in surprise. "Did you really do that?" he asked. Cerise tore her gaze away from Blake's autograph and said "Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, you weren't there so … I couldn't just not do anything" she pointed out.

She put away the piece of paper with Blake's autograph, and when she looked back up at the Doctor, he was smiling. A genuine, impressed smile, which made him appear a good few years younger; and then the smile disappeared. The Doctor cleared his throat. "Come on, girls. There's a whole lot more in this place to look through" he told them. Cerise and Marina got to their feet and followed the Doctor, ready to explore…well, the Crystal Palace. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

/

A/N: So, the Doctor's icy hearts are melting just a little. This is good progress. Also, I know this is meant to be a self-insert, but Cerise is more of a better alter-ego. If I saw someone fall into a pool I'd probably not jump in heroically after them; I'd probably run back and forth panicking like a headless chicken.

Don't be afraid to leave a review! My friend and I would love some feedback. Vworp on!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Three 

The next day, Marina woke up in a startled mood. She hurriedly shook Cerise awake. "What's up, Marina? I was just dreaming about meeting William Blake again" her best friend groaned tiredly.

"Sorry Cerise, I just woke up from a nightmare" Marina replied sadly. "Apart from that, I've been thinking about how we could get the Doctor to talk about how much he misses Amy and Rory".

"Well what are you thinking?" Cerise asked curiously. "We should do a therapy session, just like we do with our mentor when we feel sad about things". Marina explained. "That way we could help him overcome his fears of losing others, although we know he has lost many of his companions already". Cerise considered this and then nodded. "Okay, we'll ask him first thing after breakfast".

They climbed out of the bed they had shared, and straightened out the covers and pillows. "Shall we ask the Doctor if he'll put bunk beds in this room? I bet he'd be pleased that we like them" Cerise suggested, much to Marina's approval. She opened the wardrobe, and found to her great surprise that it contained many clothes of similar styles to the ones they usually wore.

"Where did all this come from?" Marina wondered aloud. The TARDIS hummed a little louder than normal, and Cerise grinned, saying "I think Sexy did it. Ooh, that top's cute!" The girls took it in turns to get dressed in the en-suite bathroom, brushed their hair, and made their way to the kitchen. The Doctor was already there, eating a bowl of cornflakes.

"No custard?" Cerise quipped, seeing his bowl full of ordinary milk. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "D'you think I have custard with everything I eat, or something?" he asked her, and Cerise shrugged. "I would" she replied simply. The girls made themselves some toast, which they then liberally smeared with strawberry jam. "Um, so Doctor, Cerise and I were wondering if you would do a therapy session with us" Marina began to explain.

The Doctor stirred his spoon absently in his bowl of soggy cereal. "What do you need therapy for?" he asked. "For _you_, not for us; see, we were thinking that since you're helping us so much, even though you don't really want to, we should be helping you more. Then we thought, we could help you in an emotional sense…we err, kind of forgot to mention this yesterday, but Marina and I both have autism. Asperger's Syndrome, to be precise" explained Cerise.

"We've done therapy sessions with our mentor, so we know how they work and stuff. So, will you do it?" asked Marina. She and Cerise pouted at the Doctor, clasping their hands together. The Time Lord sighed and swigged his tea. "Okay – one session" he agreed less than enthusiastically. The girls high fived each other and then finished eating their toast. "We'll meet you in the console room in about five minutes, Doctor" said Cerise.

/

Five minutes later, the girls entered the console room to find a table and three chairs sitting beside the console. "I didn't put those there" said the Doctor, before either of them asked. "The TARDIS did. She seems to have taken a liking to you two" he explained.

The three of them sat around the small coffee table, the Doctor with his back to the console, and the two girls opposite him. "So what are we doing in this 'therapy session'?" asked the Doctor, making air quotes with his fingers. "Stage One – evaluating the problem" stated Cerise, clicking her ballpoint pen. "First, the usual spiel…anything you tell us will be confidential, you are permitted to withdraw at any time without penalty, refuse to answer a question without penalty, etc., etc. Sign here to prove you have given consent". She pointed to a dotted line she'd just inked in over the top of the page.

The Doctor merely scribbled an elaborate question mark onto the line. Cerise shrugged and said "Good enough. Okay Doctor, my first question is…why so serious?"

She laughed at the Batman reference and Marina face-palmed. "Really, Cerise?" she asked. Cerise forced herself to stop giggling, and motioned for Marina to continue whilst she got herself under control. Marina smiled at the Doctor and said, "try to explain why you feel so sad".

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Why was he sad? The better question would be, why _he wasn't_ sad. "I lost…two people, fantastic wonderful people, who were…_are _very dear to me, and they were just the latest in a long, long line. I'm sad, Marina, because I lose everyone I care about. Some of them leave me, some I leave behind, a few of them died" the Doctor said miserably, staring off into the distance.

Cerise reached over and patted his hand. "You've not lost everyone" she told him, glancing at the ceiling. The Doctor followed her gaze and smiled winsomely.

Marina wrote _Stage Two- Discussing the Solution _on the piece of paper and underlined it. "So, we know what the problem is, now all we need is a solution" she said, as if it were simple. The Doctor said drolly, "if you girls can come up with a companion who won't leave me, get left behind, or die, I'll be very impressed".

Cerise replied "We're Whovians, crazy stuff is our thing. Also, Sexy counts as that companion, unless you want to drag Captain Jack on board again". She smirked at the expression on the Doctor's face, and continued, "Okay look, losing your friends is bad, but that isn't the problem. So what is?" she asked.

"Because they're gone, and there is nothing I can do about it" replied the Doctor.

"Why is that such a bad thing?"

"I don't know, you tell me, Miss Smarty McSmart Pants" he grumbled.

"You lose faith" Cerise said simply. "Everytime something goes wrong you lose faith, in yourself, in humanity...what you do _depends_ on people trusting you; but you don't even trust yourself" she explained. "You can just tell me I'm wrong" she added nonchalantly. The Doctor and Cerise stared into each other's eyes; and then the Doctor dropped his gaze. "You're not wrong" he muttered.

Marina, who had been diligently scribbling down everything the Doctor and Cerise had said, looked up. "So that's it, we've just gotta get the Doctor's faith in himself back?" she asked. Cerise answered "It won't be that easy, obviously. It's not going to change what's happened or what will happen. This is just to cushion the blow. You understand, right?" she asked the Doctor, who nodded.

"Good!" Cerise clapped her hands together and flipped the piece of paper over. "Now, we know from our own therapy that the best way to stop feeling bad about yourself and your life is to think of good things about yourself and your life. So shoot". She directed the last part at the Doctor, ballpoint at the ready. The Doctor blinked and swallowed. "Good things about me and my life…okay, that sounds easy enough…"

He scratched his cheek and rattled off the first few things to come to his head. "I'm clever, interesting, kind, or so people say. Um, I'm good at fixing things, I can make delicious omelettes, I'm good at football…I'm the Doctor, what else is there to say?" he asked, half-jokingly.

"Okay, that's some really good stuff. What about good things in your life?" Marina prompted.

"The TARDIS" the Doctor replied straight away, his eyes softening, "travelling. My companions, when they're here. All the stars, planets, nebulae, supernovas to explore; and my memories". Cerise wrote the last word down and asked quietly, "what about your family?"

The Doctor sighed and stared at the table. "My family are dead" he murmured at last. A small hand reached over and touched him on the chest, between his hearts. "They're still alive in here" Cerise said gently, smiling at him. "Yeah" Marina agreed, also smiling. Then Cerise's smile grew cheeky, and she said "or _maybe _they're in here", tickling the Doctor's neck, "or hiding under there", poking him under his arm.

He chuckled and pushed her hand away, saying "Oi, quit it". Cerise put a mental tick next to _Make the Doctor laugh _and grinned. "I've just realised, you and all your companions are kind of like an asteroid belt" she said off-handedly. When both Time Lord and best friend stared at her with bewildered expressions, Cerise explained "Because you're all different, and miles away from one another, but you're kept together as a family by love…well, with real asteroids it's gravity, but for you guy's, it's love".

Marina smiled and added "Yeah, and love conquers everything, even death". The Doctor smiled softly, not really paying attention to either Cerise or Marina. "I guess I still do have a family" he murmured, not realising that he was thinking aloud. Cerise surreptitiously scribbled _my family _onto the piece of paper and clicked off the ballpoint pen. "I think…that's enough for now" she decided, picking up the piece of paper and standing up, Marina following suit.

"I'll just go put this in your file, Doctor. Coming, Mar?" asked Cerise. The girls left the console room, leaving the Doctor alone with his thoughts. His thoughtful reverie was interrupted by a miniature storm and a flash of golden curls. "Hello, sweetie" said River, as she sauntered over to her husband.

The Doctor beamed and pressed a small kiss to the tip of her nose. "River, what a surprise; what are you doing here?" he asked her, and she answered, "I've got a lot more free time now that I'm not in Storm Cage anymore…Doctor, who's cardigan is that?" she asked, noticing a brown cashmere cardigan draped over the back of a chair, which along with two other chairs and a table was sitting inexplicably besides the console room.

"Oh, it belongs to Marina. Marina Rosenthorpe, and Cerise Woods; they're my new, um, companions" explained the Doctor. River placed her hands on the back of the nearest chair and rested her weight on it. "So you're starting to move on, that's good. What were you doing with them, having a tea party?" she inquired, eyes sparkling in amusement.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "No, not a tea party. Cerise and Marina are…well, they're not from this universe. They're from a parallel world where apparently, my life is a TV show. It's even named after the First Question – Doctor Who" he explained. "I agreed to try and find a way back to their home universe, and in return, the girls decided to 'help me emotionally' with a therapy session".

"Ah, therapy, I see. Did any of it help?" questioned River. The Doctor scratched his cheek and straightened his bowtie. "A little" he admitted, "but River, it's not safe for them. They're not the first companions to try and heal these broken hearts; and all the others were lost. I know Marina and Cerise are going to leave, they have to leave, because this isn't their home. I just…I don't want them to help me".

In the corridor outside, Marina gasped quietly. She had returned to the console room to fetch her cardigan, when she overheard the last few words the Doctor had said. Marina hesitated for a moment, and then ran back to the bedroom she was still sharing with Cerise.

"Cerise, you're never going to believe this. I went to get my cardigan, and I heard the Doctor say that he doesn't want us to help him!" she told her friend, and Cerise frowned. "Mar, are you sure you heard him properly?" she asked. Marina nodded. "What do we do?" she asked, flustered.

"I don't know…I mean, if he really didn't want our help, he wouldn't have agreed to the therapy session. Come on, we'll go ask him. I wonder who he was talking to."

The girls returned to the console room, entering it just as the floor shook violently. A harsh alarm blared loudly, and they clapped their hands over their ears in fright. "What is that?" Marina shouted fearfully over the noise. "Why is the TARDIS making it!" yelled Cerise. The Doctor reached over the console and flipped a few switches; the deafening blare quietened to a tolerable, if irritating, beep.

"It's a distress signal" he explained. "There's a ship out there in a lot of trouble". Everyone, even River, expected the Doctor to refuse to answer the SOS. Instead, he flipped the dematerialisation lever down, and warned the others to hold on tight.

"Geronimo!" said Marina, as she and Cerise high fived.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Four 

The TARDIS dematerialised with a thud that nearly sent Marina toppling to the ground. She managed to keep her balance, laughing a little from the adrenaline and sheer awesomeness. The two young women followed the Doctor and River out of the time machine. They had landed inside the corridor of another spaceship, if the steaming pipes running along the walls and cables dangling from the ceiling were anything to go by.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning for life-forms; River proceeded to do the same with her handheld computer. "I've got fifty life-forms, you?" she asked the Doctor, who checked his readings and replied "yep".

"What sort of life form?" asked Marina; the Doctor said they were all humans. Then one of the aforementioned humans rounded the corner and saw them. For a moment he just stared; and then he pulled a radio out of his pocket, still staring at the newcomers, and spoke into it. "Hello, bridge? Come in, bridge. You know that mayday signal we sent out? I think someone answered".

/

They were taken to the spaceship's bridge, which was infinitely better than being taken to the ship's _brig. _"Wow, a real spaceship!" Marina said in awe as she looked around the sleek and modern looking control room. The Doctor coughed loudly. "Oh, sorry Doctor" she added sheepishly. A tall, bearded man, his jacket covered in military insignia, strode towards them.

"Captain Carlson, of the SS _Dawn_ _Rider_. We were on our way to send supplies to a military base in the fortieth quadrant when an ion storm destroyed our warp drives. We've been idle for three days straight, and our rations are starting to " he explained. "And you are?"

"The Doctor, this is my wife Professor River Song, and my two companions Cerise Woods and Marina Rosenthorpe" answered the Doctor. Cerise and Marina smiled politely at the imposing captain and tried to subtly tidy themselves up a little bit more. Carlson asked them how they had boarded his ship. "There hasn't been any word from the docking bays. Everett said you had a large blue box with you" – he began, only to be cut off by the Doctor.

"Ah, yes! The box is how we got on board your lovely ship, it's my spaceship; compact, you know?" he explained, well, vaguely. Carlson didn't exactly look impressed. "Lieutenant?" he called over his shoulder, "escort our visitors to the galley to wait whilst I check out their IDs and their 'spaceship'".

A young woman with long brown hair, neatly tied into a bun, and an intelligent glint in her eyes strode over to the small group. Saluting her superior, she turned to the Doctor and his entourage and introduced herself. "I'm Lieutenant C. Oswald, pleased to meet you. If you'll just follow me, please". She led them down the corridors, River first, and then Cerise and Marina, whilst the Doctor brought up the rear.

He noticed the pair in front of him grinning at one another and asked "What's got you so happy?" Marina and Cerise looked back at him, both clearly trying not to burst out laughing, and said as one, "spoilers!" Then they hurried to catch up with River and Lieutenant Oswald, leaving the Doctor to puzzle out what on earth they were talking about.

The galley was a long, narrow room with eighteen tables arranged in rows from the door to the kitchens way at the back. "To be honest, 'kitchen' isn't really the word I'd use for it. We have so few rations that you can hardly cook anything, definitely not nice food like tarts or soufflés" explained the lieutenant. The Doctor stared very hard at Oswald; there was something familiar about her, but he couldn't for the life of him put his finger on it. He was getting old.

Marina and Cerise stood watching the Doctor mulling over Oswald. Cerise leaned closer to Marina and murmured, from the corner of her mouth, "d'you think we should tell him, put him out of his misery?" Marina thought about it for a moment. "Nah" she answered, grinning. River wondered what they looked so pleased about.

Deciding that this was as good a moment as any to get to know her husband's new companions, River walked over to the pair and cleared her throat to get their attention. "So, the Doctor tells me you're from a parallel world. This must all be rather unnerving for you" she commented.

The one with the cardigan, Marina, nodded. "It could be worse" added Cerise, "we could've ended up in a universe without the Doctor; it's nice to meet you, by the way. You're one of our favourite characters" she smiled, offering a hand to shake. River smiled at the flattery. "That's very nice of you to say so, girls. The Doctor also told me you'd been giving him therapy; are you studying anything like that? I assume you're students".

They both nodded affirmatively. "We're not studying therapy though; I'm doing Language & Literature, and Marina here is doing Media Design" explained Cerise. Suddenly Marina's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot! We were gonna ask the Doctor why he doesn't want our help anymore".

River raised an eyebrow; Marina noticed and clarified, "I heard him say he didn't want our help, just before the SOS signal went off. Was it you he was talking to, River? Do you know why he said that?" she asked.

"Oh, I know what you mean. It's not really that he doesn't want your help; he just"- River was interrupted by a soldier, who entered the galley to inform Lieutenant Oswald that the newcomer's identities had been confirmed, except for the Doctor, whom Oswald had apparently been ordered to 'keep an eye on' by Carlson. "Tell him I certainly will" she instructed the soldier, raking an appreciative eye over the Doctor, much to his wife's chagrin.

"Oh, there was something else…oh yeah, now I remember. The captain wants you", he said to the Doctor, "to open that box of yours. We've tried every tool we've got and nothing's worked". The Doctor looked alarmed at this. "You tried to force it open? I'm warning you, if you've damaged the paintwork, I'll…do something…not very nice…besides, I'm not going to open it" he said stubbornly.

"Why not?" asked Marina.

"It's the principle of the thing. Carlson can't just make me open _my _box just because it's on _his _ship" the Doctor explained ineffectually. "Actually it does, Mr I Think I Can Do Whatever The Hell I Want. And he's gonna see inside the TARDIS anyway, when we use it to evacuate the crew, if the warp drives don't get working; and by the way, I think we should go there first, the engine room I mean, so you two eggheads can be fixer-uppers" said Cerise, gesturing between the Doctor and River.

It seemed the most sensible option. Lieutenant Oswald escorted them to the engine room, where the Doctor and River got to work trying to fix the battered warp drives. Cerise and Marina handed them tools, whilst Oswald remained on guard outside the door. It was boiling hot and filled with steamy vents, which the Doctor warned the girls to stay well clear from. "Touch them and you'll leave skin behind, they're over 900 degrees Celsius" he told them.

Marina peeled off her cardigan and tied it around her waist; Cerise did the same with her tan jacket. "Why can't someone build a cool engine?" she groaned. "I know it probably wouldn't work, but still. I guess being hot's better than being cold though. Eugh, I'm so having a shower after this".

Whilst the girls were standing away from the hottest part of the engines, the Doctor walked over and beckoned them to sit down on some crates. "River told me you overheard us talking earlier. How much did you hear?" he asked them. Marina piped up, "it was just me; I heard you say you didn't want us to help you. Is that true?" she asked.

The Doctor tugged his bowtie straighter and sighed. "No…and, yes. It isn't that I don't _appreciate_ you trying to help me, but getting involved with my life that much just _isn't safe. _I asked…some time before I lost the Ponds, I asked them why they kept coming with me, when they had an adventure waiting for them on Earth. They said it was because they were worried about me. If they hadn't cared so much…if we hadn't gotten so attached to one another, they'd….they would still be…" he sniffed and stared at his shoes.

Marina hesitated, and then moved over to sit beside the Doctor, putting her arm around her shoulder. Cerise reached over and patted his knee. "It's not your fault" she said quietly. Before the Doctor could reply, there came a roar from the engines. River, her face covered in grease, grinned at the Doctor and gave him a thumbs-up. "I told you I could get it working" she said cheerfully. "It was dead easy, in the end. I just substituted the camshaft spacer ring with a twisted bit of wire from the old cylinder head gasket".

"Huh?" asked Marina. Cerise looked over and answered "She said she fixed the doohickey with a thingamabob", an explanation which Marina understood much better…sort of. Lieutenant Oswald returned to inform the Doctor that the captain had requested his presence on the bridge. "Um, he only said the Doctor could come" she added as River made to follow.

The Doctor said "but River's me old wife…no, ah, no, never saying that again. Specifically the old part; sorry, sweetie" he added, with an apologetic shrug. "You'd be right, though. I'm coming, Miss Oswald, so if you don't mind…" River stalked past the younger woman and down the corridor. Marina and Cerise hurried forwards. "If they're going, we're going. No way am I staying down here" Cerise announced stubbornly.

Upon their return to the bridge, the four time travellers found the place as silent and orderly as ever. Carlson stepped forwards and ordered the Doctor to fix the bridge computer. "It failed during the ion storm; without it online, we don't have shields, tracking sonar; not even the popcorn machine is working" he explained gruffly.

"I don't trust ship computers. They always end up wanting to kill the crew" Cerise commented to no one in particular. She didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to get a little bored. So far all they had done is walk back and forth through plain grey corridors, and sat around in a canteen and a boiling hot engine room. It didn't take the Doctor long to recognise the problem with the computer and fix it, with aid of the sonic screwdriver, so at least they'd soon be able to leave the crew to their…soldiering.

When the computer came online, Cerise didn't realise she was about to wish things would _stay _boring. An enormous vessel, far larger than the _Dawn Rider _and with undoubtedly more firepower, was floating alongside. More than that; it was sucking the ship in. A whole side of the bigger craft had opened up and the smaller _Dawn Rider _was being helplessly swept inside. "Gun the engines!" ordered Carlson.

The crew gave the newly repaired engines a thorough workout, but the magnetic…or so they assumed…pull was simply too strong. One of the crewmembers radioed in from the docking bay. "Captain, we're being attacked by the Cybermen. Whole platoons are boarding us, we're outgunned down here. We're retreating, which position should we…oh my God! What's happening to him?! Stay back! All of you, stay back and don't touch the"- a crackle of static filled the air.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Five

They shared expressions of alarm and horror as the radio went dead; Cerise reached over and squeezed Marina's hand. Carlson brought up a video feed of the docking bay, which merely confirmed the soldier's last words; Cybermen were boarding the ship, marching in conforming rows. The soldiers were retreating, running for their lives.

As those on the bridge watched, one of the Cybermen seized a soldier by the neck. He choked and shuddered, legs thrashing in the air. Slowly, his skin and clothing became silver and shiny, metallic like the Cybermen. The Cyberman holding him dropped the soon completely silver man; the former soldier stood up, rod straight, and began marching with the Cybermen.

"Well, that's new" the Doctor commented, "a new upgrading method; and I thought the Cybermen couldn't get any more cruel" he spat. "I don't understand, what happened? He just changed colour" Marina said in frightened confusion. The Doctor turned to her and said "No, Marina, they covered him with metal. He is trapped inside a metal suit. Captain, it's pretty clear you don't like me, but if you want to get out of here alive I suggest you do as I say".

Carlson glared at the impudence, but then Oswald backed the Doctor up. "With all due respect, sir, we don't have the firepower to defeat the Cybermen. I think retreat is our only viable option".

"We can evacuate everyone onto my spaceship, which I'm unlocking…now. Trust me, it doesn't look like it but there'll be room" the Doctor insisted. Carlson marched over to the intercom and pressed it. "Attention all crew, this is a mauve alert, I repeat, a mauve alert. Do not engage the Cybermen in combat. Your orders are to retreat to Level Five and enter the blue box. Repeat, go to Level Five".

Suddenly, the whole ship vibrated violently; the lights dimmed and then flared again. "Power surge?" asked Cerise. Oswald nodded, flicking through the information on the computer. "They've locked all our systems, sir. We can't use the level to level teleports anymore".

"You mean those glow-y futuristic gates we went through? So, what, we have to take the stairs?" asked Cerise. "Well, ladders. I'm trying to find a clear path, just a sec…okay, got it. Follow me" said Oswald, striding for the exit. The others followed her in an orderly fashion as possible. "Discipline is the key to escape" said Carlson, an observation that was summarily ignored by everyone else. They did have more to worry about, after all.

At first, it seemed like plain sailing; they were on Level One, so they only had to make it down four more floors, make their way through Level Five, get on board the TARDIS and leave the ship to the Cybermen. Of course it wouldn't be that easy, and they were fools to think so. The whole ship rocked suddenly, and a terrible _boom _could be heard emanating throughout the craft.

They were thrown painfully against the wall and to the floor as the explosion tore through the ship. "They're firing on us!" shouted Carlson. "They're firing on my ship and I can't even damn well fire back!"

"Do you want to get revenge or get to live?" asked Cerise, as she helped Marina to her feet. "Come on, we've gotta keep moving" urged the Doctor. They ran down the corridor, past door after door, and climbed down the ladders to Level Two. Then Oswald announced there was a shortcut through the canteen and the kitchens; they were on their way there when another, closer explosion rocked through the spaceship. They could hear smashing and screams; and then the corridor began to tilt.

With the groan of straining metal, the entire craft rolled over. Up was now down, and down was up. Oswald landed on top of the Doctor, much to his flustered embarrassment; River yanked her off him rather roughly. They stood up shakily on the ceiling, disorientated. "Come on; we can still get to the canteen" the Lieutenant encouraged, running down the corridor.

When they reached the canteen, it had completely disappeared, as had the rooms above and below it. A gaping hole in the side of the ship was blocked by the bulk of the Cyberman vessel, from which they were marching in relentless rows of death. "Keep them at bay at all costs" ordered Carlson; the soldiers with them followed these orders and took position, firing on the Cybermen, despite the Doctor's protests that regular bullets would be useless.

"There's a girder over there, it hasn't collapsed yet. We can get across and up the ladder!" Cerise announced, pointing at a series of crossed struts that led, conveniently, right to the base of a maintenance ladder. "There's not much of a choice. Okay, go, go!" the Doctor urged, pushing them all towards the girder. River reached it first; she grasped the two side beams and stepped on the part where the metal bars crossed; it sank a little under her weight.

The Doctor followed his wife, calling back to the soldiers, "Aim for the middle of their chest plates!" They were all going to die, too outnumbered and outgunned. Already five had been knocked off and fallen into the abyss below.

Then Cerise urged Marina to follow. "I'll be right behind you" she reassured. The lieutenant followed last of all. The Cybermen fired at both the soldiers and at those attempting to cross the girder. River responded by firing a volley of shots at their attackers, perfectly aimed at the emotional inhibitors. Guilt tore at the Doctor's hearts to know that the Cybermen would die remembering the people they had once been, die with the soldiers fighting them. _Why can't I go one day without death following me_?

The Cybermen soon overran the helpless soldiers, and began to follow the others over the girder. Fortunately, there was a sheer wall on the far side, with no access to the top of the maintenance ladder to cut off their escape. River reached the ladder and holstered her gun, climbing up the rungs with haste. The Doctor soon followed, but the girls and the lieutenant were still a few struts behind. "Come on" he urged them.

Marina reached the ladder, and Cerise was nearing it when she heard a scream of pain from behind her. One of the Cybermen had seized Oswald, and the silvery coat of metal was already spreading over her body. Cerise hesitated, staring in shock. "Cerise!"

The Doctor's sharp voice startled her back to reality; she turned and scrambled across the last few struts and began to climb up the ladder. She was halfway up when something grabbed her by the ankle, and she screamed. Oswald's metallic hand burned ice cold and was tighter than a thumb screw.

"Cerise!" cried Marina, reaching down for her friend's outstretched hand. Cerise pulled her foot upwards for all she was worth, even as energy blasts from River's blaster glanced off of Oswald's metal skin and the sonic screwdriver did nothing to loosen her vice like grip. Cerise's boot was completely metal now, as was her sock; and then her foot began to burn with an unholy pain. It felt as if a thousand needles were being driven into her very bones.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked back down at the enslaved Lieutenant. "Clara, please" she begged desperately, "you're human!"

It might have been…must have been…a trick of the light, a stray speck of dust. But just for a second, Cerise could have sworn she saw a glimmer of recognition in the soulless metallic eyes of Clara Oswin Oswald. And the grip on her ankle loosened. She yanked it free with a painful tug, and pushed Marina up the ladder, following as fast as she could.

The Doctor sonic-ed the hatch as soon as the girls were safely through, and slammed it shut. "It was her!" he exclaimed breathlessly. River stood guard a little ways down the corridor, whilst Marina and Cerise caught their breaths. "She was Oswin!" he cried in disbelief. "Did you two know she"-

"Shut the f*** up!" Cerise yelled at him hysterically. Tears were still streaming down her face and she was trembling with shock and fear. Marina sat on the floor beside her, both friends hugging each other. Once the Doctor had recovered from the surprise of being sworn at by his companion, which he was sure had never happened before, he knelt down and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

He began to scan her foot, the one that had been grasped by Oswin; now Clara, apparently. He was surprised and disturbed by the results. "It's metal. Not just covered in metal, your whole foot…every cell…is metal" he told Cerise, who stared at her foot as if it might bite her. "C-can you change it back?" she asked nervously. "I'm sorry" the Doctor said guiltily.

"It'll be okay, Cerise" Marina said gently, giving her best friends hand a squeeze. "Does it hurt?" the Doctor asked. Cerise shook her head. "No. I can't even feel it anymore" she admitted. It was true; the burning pain had gone, replaced with a complete numbness. It was as if her leg simply stopped at the top of her sock. Now she knew how amputees felt.

With a few deep breaths, Cerise managed to stand up again. She felt terribly unbalanced, on account of not being able to feel the floor underneath her right foot. She took a few experimental, slightly limping steps. "I think I can manage. It's not heavy. I don't think it's meant to be".

Compared to what had just happened, the rest of their journey to the TARDIS was pretty uneventful. The most awful sounds echoed through the ship, twisting metal and terrified screams, but they hardly encountered any more Cybermen. Cerise kept telling herself not to look at her foot, but it was like telling herself not to look down; she did it anyway. To check that her foot was still there, and that the metal wasn't spreading.

At last, they reached the corridor in which the TARDIS sat, a part of the ship which had apparently not been twisted over. The ceiling appeared to have caved in. "They've been crushing the ship" said the Doctor, "hurry, the TARDIS can't keep the ceiling held up forever". They ran for the time machine, and made it safely inside. There was no one else inside. "No one made it" Cerise said sadly, collapsing into a nearby seat.

"Can't…can't we wait for them?" asked Marina, clearly distressed. "Mar…I don't think there's anyone to wait for" Cerise told her, and now it was Marina's turn to cry. The Doctor embraced her comfortingly, before turning to Cerise and aiming the sonic at her right foot once more. He paused to alter the settings before returning to his task; slowly but surely, the metal began to crack and peel away.

Cerise's eyes widened. "…you said you couldn't fix it" she said in surprise. "I can't, but you don't wanna be wearing a boot for the rest of your life" he pointed out. Soon, she was no longer wearing her footwear. The metal was detailed right down to the nail on her pinkie toe. "I'm tired" she announced suddenly. "I'm gonna go to bed". She stood up and made her way down the corridor, supported on one side by Marina, and trying to ignore the tapping of her metal foot on the TARDIS floors.

/

The Doctor knocked on the door of the girls' bedroom and was answered with a quiet "come in". He pushed the door open and entered, to find both girls sitting on the bed with pencil and paper, resting on some clipboards that the TARDIS must have given them. "Are you both okay?" he asked. Cerise nodded, more focused on her writing. She twirled the pencil in her fingers and scrubbed the nub of rubber over the words, before dusting it off. "Yes, we're fine" answered Marina.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously, hovering by the door. "Writing letters to our families, saying goodbye, we love them, which of our things our siblings can have" explained Cerise. "I'm just trying to finish this part for my little sister. I'm not sure what to say, really" she sighed.

The Doctor frowned slightly in confusion. "You're writing goodbye letters? But you're going to see them again. I'll get you back home, I promise" he told them. Cerise smiled and patted the bed as an invitation to sit down. He did so. "So, look. I know, we both know, that you're trying to get us home. You don't have to, and we're grateful, honestly. It's just…Doctor, Marina and I aren't special".

Before he could protest, tell them they were special, Cerise held up a hand. "Hear me out. We ended up in this universe because of a fluke. A stroke of bad luck. We're not the chosen ones, we're not gonna come back from the dead and fate isn't gonna look the other way. This right here", she said, tapping the pencil against her metal foot, "is proof of that. We know you mean well, Doctor, but…Marina and I have to accept that we might die here" she explained.

He couldn't remember the last time a companion had been so…so humbly aware of their mortality like this. Even Amelia had imagined travelling with him for years into her old age. The Doctor leaned forwards and kissed Cerise on the forehead. "Oh don't be so melodramatic. It's not that bad, d'you know why?" she asked. The Doctor shook his head. "No, why?" he questioned.

Cerise grinned. "Well, as a very clever man once said, 'Life is a pile of good and bad things, and sometimes the good things can't soften the bad things, but the bad things don't make the good things unimportant'. I'm paraphrasing, of course" she answered nonchalantly. The Doctor chuckled a little at his own words being quoted back at him.

"Oh yeah, and if you're feeling guilty about not being able to save the _Dawn Rider _crew, don't. I'm never wrong, so if I say it's not your fault, then it's not your fault, capiche?" Cerise insisted. The Doctor gave her a mock salute. "I'm sorry about your foot" he added, but she simply shrugged it off. "Don't be daft, I'm fine. It's actually sort of cool. I don't know how I'm gonna get through airport security now, though" she sighed.

Then she glanced at the Doctor and smacked his arm. "Stop smirking, it's not funny!" she protested, even though she was starting to giggle herself. "I'm always scared those machines will beep and now they're gonna beep every single time!" Now Marina was giggling along with the Doctor, and it wasn't long before Cerise joined in. It felt good to laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Six 

Cerise sprinted down the corridor, away from the Cybermen. The walls around her seemed to shimmer; there was a surreal quality to them that should have given her a clue, as to her true whereabouts. She kept running, and gradually became aware that no one else was there. Not Marina, not River or the Doctor; just her, and the Cybermen. They were surrounding her now, hemming her in on all sides.

Someone was shouting, and then Cerise realised that person was her. She backed into a corner, and watched in horror as one of the Cybermen's puppets, who looked too much like her best friend, lurched towards her. Clamped hands down on her shoulders, opened its metal mouth and said in a monotone, "You-will-be-assimilated". She felt the icy pain spread through her shoulders, up her neck; her head throbbed painfully.

And abruptly there was no cold, but her head still hurt, and fabric was wrapped around her, threatening to suffocate her. Disoriented, Cerise thrashed about a bit before recognising her surroundings. She was in the bedroom on board the TARDIS, on the lower bunk, and the bump on her head must have appeared when she woke in a panic and banged her head on the bottom of Marina's bunk.

Between the nightmare and the unfamiliar room, Cerise had never felt more homesick. She felt a sob climb up her throat, and choked it back. She didn't want to wake up Marina by crying here, and she was rubbish at crying silently. So Cerise climbed out of bed, pulled on a dressing gown, pulled a slipper onto her left foot. She couldn't feel the cool floor through her right foot anymore.

She went into the kitchen, or one of the kitchens, and sat at the table, crying into her hands. A box of soft tissues appeared out of nowhere and she smiled up at the ceiling in quiet thanks. She was blowing her nose for what felt like the hundredth time when the door opened, and the Doctor walked in. He looked surprised to see her, so the TARDIS couldn't have led him there, but he soon schooled his features into a look of concern.

The Doctor sat down beside Cerise and said quietly, "you've had a nightmare". It wasn't a question. Cerise nodded slowly, and then blurted out "I miss home". This, of course, brought on a fresh burst of sobs, and the Doctor put his arms around her. "Shh, it's okay" he muttered, rubbing her back. "I'll get you and Marina home, Cerise. I promise" he told her solemnly.

Then he made them both some hot chocolate with marshmallows. Cerise scooped the creamy foam on top off with her fingers and licked them. "What's…your favourite colour?" she asked the Doctor, who replied, "I don't think I have a favourite colour. Blue, I suppose, and orange". Cerise smiled a little. "Kind of a weird coincidence, my favourite colour's blue as well" she told him.

"What are your favourite foods?" the Doctor inquired. Cerise felt much better, and decided to tease him a little bit. "Oh, I love pears, can't get enough of them. Let's see, I like bacon, and I hate fish fingers; oh, and custard of course. Yuck". She was rather pleased at her efforts to keep a straight face, but it all fell apart when she saw the look on the Doctor's face. "I see" he said in a rather strained voice. Cerise giggled.

"I'm kidding, okay? I like pears, but I actually don't like bacon. As for fish fingers and custard; on their own, fine. Not together though. I seriously don't know why you think they go well together" she said in amusement. The Doctor raised a barely existent eyebrow. "Have you ever tried fish custard?" he asked Cerise, who shrugged. "No, I…oh, oh no, don't even…I'm not gonna eat it!" she said stubbornly, but the Doctor wasn't listening. He was too busy preparing the strange dish.

Cerise refused to take a bite. The Doctor said it wouldn't kill her. She retorted that he couldn't force her. He tickled her. Between giggling madly and gasping for breath, Cerise managed to say that they'll wake up Marina for sure. He informed her that all the rooms on the TARDIS are soundproofed. They could be having a wild rave and nobody else on board would notice. Eventually Cerise gave in and surrendered. Of course, then she actually had to eat a bite of fish custard. _Yuck. _

The custard made the breadcrumbs soft and squishy, like lots of tomato sauce would, except that tomato sauce didn't taste so fishy. It was disgusting, but Cerise managed to swallow the mouthful. "What do you think?" asked the Doctor. He had an annoying smirk on his face that was just begging to be smeared with…grinning evilly, Cerise scooped a handful of gooey yellow custard and splattered it all over the Doctor's face. And then licked her fingers clean.

She was just having a nice long gulp of hot chocolate (now lukewarm chocolate), when something slimy slid down the back of her neck. Squealing, she pulled out a fish finger, covered in custard, and flung it at the Doctor. He chucked another one at her. Then Cerise stood up, picked up the whole bowl of fish custard and tipped it over the Doctor's head. "Heh, I should've just done that first thing" she grinned. He wiped the gooey fishy mess off of his face and wiped it onto hers.

After they had cleaned themselves up, the Doctor asked casually, "So where do you want to go today?"

"Hmm, why don't we let the TARDIS decide? She is the driver, after all" Cerise said cheekily, giggling at the Doctor's annoyed expression. "Hah, hah, very funny, you should be going back to bed" he told her sternly. "Oh come on, I'll never get back to sleep now" she protested; before yawning loudly. The Doctor smirked, so Cerise slapped his arm in petty retaliation and walked off back to the bedroom. Marina hadn't stirred, by the looks of things; she was such a deep sleeper.

/

Cerise was glad she'd caught up on her sleep, because they'd just saved the Earth twice in one day. First from the Great Intelligence, which the girls thought had lost a bit of its sinister-ness since the 60's, and then they'd found Clara Oswald again and stopped people from being trapped 'like flies in the World Wide Web' as the Doctor had put it.

"Come back tomorrow, ask me again" said Clara, and when the Doctor asked her why, she cheerfully replied "because tomorrow I might say yes! Sometime after seven okay for you guys?" Flashing Marina and Cerise a friendly smile, Clara walked towards the door. The Doctor remembered something at the last minute and called out, "Clara?"

She paused and looked at him inquisitively. "Uh-huh?" The Doctor hesitated, and then asked, "In your book, there was a leaf, why?" It hadn't seemed like it was anything special. Clara smiled. "That wasn't a leaf, that was page one" she answered cryptically, before going out the door. The Doctor was more intrigued than ever. _I've got to find out who that girl is. _

It was, of course, the work of moments to jump into the future, just ten minutes past seven. Clara opened the door the moment the Doctor began ringing the doorbell, a huge grin plastered on her face. "Took the shortcut, did you Chin Boy?" she asked cheekily. The Doctor scowled and rubbed his chin in embarrassment. "Hey, Marina, Cerise" Clara greeted the girls, who both smiled and said "Hello" in return.

The Doctor hurried up to the console and began to dematerialise, letting the TARDIS fall through the Vortex. "So we're moving…through actual time?" Clara asked wonderingly. "So what's it made of, time? I mean if you can just go through it, it's got to be made of something, like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?" she asked the Doctor.

"Well not strawberries, no, no, no, that would be unacceptable" he answered, without really answering the question. "Actually, Clara" Marina piped up, "time is made from wibbley wobbley, timey wimey stuff!"

Clara laughed and grinned in excitement. "And we can go anywhere?" she questioned. "Within reason – well, I say reason" replied the Doctor. "Yeah, for you 'within reason' means 'within a five metre radius of something bizarre and probably deadly'" Cerise teased him.

"So we can go backwards in time?"

"And space, yes"

"And forwards in time"

"And space, totally. So, where do you want to go, hey? What d'you wanna see?" asked the Doctor. Clara opened her mouth, paused, and the smile slid off her face. "I don't know. You know when someone asks you 'what's your favourite book?', and straight away you forget every book you've ever read?" she asked. "I hate it when that happens" Cerise said sympathetically.

"Back to the question" the Doctor prompted. Clara thought about it, and thought about it, and finally said she wanted to see, "something awesome". Now _that _was something the Doctor could deliver. He dematerialised, grinning happily, and led his three companions to the door. "All of you close your eyes, and come out one at a time. I want this to be a surprise" he told them.

One by one, he guided them out of the TARDIS. "Can you all feel the light on your eyelids?" he asked them. They nodded. "That is the light of an alien sun. Marina, face that way, Clara, come forward two more steps. Okay, are you ready? Open". They opened their eyes. "Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten" announced the Doctor.

It was incredible, a huge crimson orb which glowed like molten lava, surrounded by asteroids of all shapes and sizes. The biggest asteroid seemed to be fixed in place, and they could see the lights and buildings of an alien city upon the rough-hewn rock. "It's…" Clara was speechless, as were Cerise and Marina.

The Doctor, as usual, was not. "It is! It so completely is, but wait, there is more" he said excitedly. "More what?"

"Wait, wait, wait; in about five, four, three, two…" another asteroid floated aside, revealing a beautiful golden... "What is it?" asked Clara, staring awe-struck. "The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten, it's a holy site for the Sun Singers of Akhet" he explained in a quiet, almost reverent voice. "The what singers of where?" asked Cerise.

"Seven worlds, orbiting the same star, all of them sharing the belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet" he said, pointing to the asteroid with a city. Not a huge asteroid, then. A small planetoid. "Did all life really come from here?" asked Marina. "Well, it's what they believe. It's a nice story" said the Doctor. "A fairytale" added Cerise. "Can we see it, up close?" asked Clara. The Doctor held out his hand. Clara took one, Marina took the other, and Clara held her hand out to Cerise.

They ran back inside the TARDIS, and held on tight as the time machine dematerialised. "So where did all life come from?" asked Clara. "Anywhere, everywhere. All over the universe, at more or less the same time, life came to be" replied the Doctor as he danced around the console. "Yeah, for example, life on Earth started when the Doctor chucked a bit of mouldy cheese into a primeval puddle. It was struck by lightning and lo! Life was born" said Cerise. "So in your fairytale, Cerise, you and Marina and Clara are all descended from mouldy cheese?" asked the Doctor, but Cerise was too busy giggling to answer.

The Doctor led them all into a bustling open market, filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful aliens. Ones with bulbous green heads, ones with horns, ones with helmets. "Where are they from?" asked Clara.

"Oh, you know, the local system mostly" the Doctor replied casually. "And what do we call them?" she added. The Doctor began pointing out a few species. "Well, let's see…ah, there go some Camfavalonians, a Lugilearacus, some Nucanians, a Hoolovoo, ah!" He performed some greeting ritual secret handshake thing with a blue skinned, armoured alien. "That chap's a Terraberserker of the Cadonion Belt, you don't see many of them around anymore. Oh, that's an Ultramanta!"

The Doctor turned to his companions and smiled. "You know, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often" he told them. "You've been here before?" asked Marina. "Yes, yes, I came here a long time ago, with my granddaughter" answered the Doctor, hurrying away before they could question him about it. The girls tried to follow him through the crowd.

They found him by a stall selling "exotic fruits of some description". He scanned them with the sonic screwdriver. "Non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic, high in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder". Clara tried one and pulled a face. Then Cerise had a bite of the glowing blue fruit, and found it tasted very bitter. Marina didn't think much of it either.

"So, why is everyone here?" asked Clara. "Ah, for the Festival of Offerings, takes place every thousand years or so when the rings align, it's quite a big thing locally like…err, pancake Tuesday" he explained. The sudden bark of a dog made Cerise jump in alarm and spin around; it wasn't a dog at all, but an alien. "Err, Doctor?" called Clara. He came up and barked right back at the alien. "What's happening, why is it angry?" asked Clara.

"This isn't an it, it's a she. Doreen, meet Clara, Marina and Cerise. Girls, meet Doreen" he introduced them. "Loose translation" he said to explain her barking, "She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love actually, aren't you? Yes you are" said the Doctor, scratching Doreen under the chin. "You know actually, she's just asking if you fancy renting a moped. Vroom!" he explained. Clara asked how much it cost. Riding an alien moped did sound like a lot of fun.

"Oh, not money, something valuable. Sentimental value, a photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here, psychometry; objects psychically imprinted with their history, the more precious they are, the more valuable they are" he explained. "That's horrible" said Clara, disliking the idea of anyone giving up something they cared about. "Well, it's better than little bits of paper" he shot back. "You pay then; your pockets are full of stuff, there must be something in there with 'sentimental value'" suggested Cerise.

The girls walked off a little way to explore. When Marina looked back to see where the Doctor had gone, she couldn't see him anywhere. "Um, guys? Where's the Doctor?" she asked. Cerise and Clara looked all around, but they couldn't see the Time Lord anywhere. He had just vanished.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Seven 

"Doctor?" called Clara. They backtracked a little, but the Doctor seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. "How can someone like him just vanish like that?" Cerise wondered aloud. She turned around and walked headlong into a small child in red robes. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you. Are you okay?" she asked in concern. The little girl, who looked human except for the markings on her face, ran off into the market.

Then two men appeared, dressed in similar red robes. "Have you seen her?" one of them asked the trio. "Seen who?" asked Marina. "The Queen of Years" he specified, only to be met with three blank looks. But when the men had left in search of their Queen, Marina turned to Cerise and Clara and said "You don't think that little girl was the Queen, do you?"

"Well, Queen or not, the poor thing looked lost. We should go and see if we can help" said Clara. She gave a cursory glance around for the Doctor, or anymore robed men, and then went off after the little girl. Cerise and Marina followed. They found their way into a storage room of some kind, filled with ropes and boxes and alien artefacts. A door slammed shut with a loud clang somewhere behind them, making Clara gasp and Cerise jump.

They walked quietly, until the sound of pattering feet caught their attention, and they turned around to see the little girl, staring at them in fright. "Hey" said Clara, keeping her voice down. "Are you okay, are you lost?" she asked the little girl, who whimpered and ran away again. They followed her, walking right past her hiding place, but when she tried to sneak away she snagged her foot and shrieked in surprise.

Clara, Marina and Cerise whirled round. The girl stared at them, and they stared at the girl. Then Clara chuckled, and the little girl smiled. "You alright?" asked Clara. She nodded slightly. "What are you doing in here?" asked Cerise.

"Hiding" the child told them. "Hiding from what?" asked Marina. Now the poor girl seemed confused. "You don't know me?" she asked. "We're kind of new around here" explained Cerise. She asked them why they'd followed her. "To help, you looked lost" explained Clara. "I don't believe you" she said doubtfully. "It's true, we just want to help" Marina assured her. Clara added, "We've no idea who you might be; none of us have even been here before. Never been anywhere like it before. We just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help".

The little girl still seemed a little unsure. "Really?" she asked. "Really, really" Clara confirmed. "Absolutely" added Cerise. "_Can_ you help me?" she asked, and Clara pointed out, "That's why we're still here!" She insisted that she had to hide. A creepy, hissing voice began to whisper "_Merry…where are you Merry". _

Clara smiled, and held out her hand to the little girl. "I know the perfect box". The child hesitated, and then took hold of her hand. They started to sneak out of the warehouse, trying their best to avoid the three masked and black coated figures that slunk through the shadowy building, hissing the same phrase in that spine tingling hiss. Still, they managed to escape, and made it to the TARDIS without anyone noticing the little girl, and no sign of the monsters or the robed men; or the Doctor, for that matter.

"What's this?" asked the girl, looking up at the TARDIS. "Space-shippy thing, timey, spacey" Clara explained vaguely, tugging on the door handles whilst Marina and Cerise kept lookout. "Oh, come on…you know what? I don't think it likes me" said Clara. Cerise came over and told her, "I wouldn't call her an 'it' if I were you. C'mon, TARDIS, let us in, we're just trying to help this…hey, wait!" she exclaimed, spotting the girl go behind the TARDIS.

Clara, Cerise and Marina followed her behind the time machine. "We didn't introduce ourselves, did we? My name's Cerise, and this is my friend Marina, and that's Clara" explained Cerise. "I am Merry Galelh" replied Merry; clearly, this was supposed to mean something to them. "Like I said, not locals. Can you pretend we're like, complete idiots and explain what's happening?" asked Cerise.

"I'm the Queen of Years. They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died. I'm the vessel of our history; I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend, every song" revealed Merry. "Every single one?" asked Clara, impressed. "Blimey, I hated history" she added.

Merry continued. "Now I have to sing a song, a special song, in front of everyone. I have to sing it to a God" she told them. Cerise gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know how you feel. I get scared when I have to do something in front of lots of people" she said. "How do you stop being afraid?" asked Merry. Cerise smiled and chuckled. "Oh, I don't. I just try and ignore being scared and do my best. That's all anyone should expect you to do, Merry. By the way, you've got a very pretty name" she complimented. Merry smiled. "Thank you".

"Cerise is right. Besides, everyone's scared when they're little. So, this special song, what are you scared of exactly?" she inquired. Merry replied, "Getting it wrong, making Grandfather angry". Clara asked Merry if _she _thought she would get it wrong. "Cos I don't" she told Merry, "I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think you, Merry Galelh, will get it very, very right". Merry beamed at Clara and gave her a hug. Then they all stood up and walked out from behind the TARDIS and back into the marketplace, Clara holding Merry's left hand and Cerise holding her right.

The two robed men from earlier spotted Merry, and walked over. Clara gave the girl a comforting pat on the shoulder, and gently nudged her towards them. One of the men placed a wreath of flowers around Merry's neck, and then they guided her away. "I hope she'll be okay" said Marina. Then the Doctor walked up behind them, eating one of the bitter blue fruits. "Where have you three been?" he asked.

"We could ask you the same thing" replied Cerise. "What have you been doing?" inquired the Doctor. "Exploring" answered Clara, and the Doctor, apparently satisfied with that answer, walked off. "Where are we going now?"

They followed him through the marketplace, taking care to keep up. All of the aliens seemed to be moving the same way, in the direction that Merry and her...servants, supposedly, had gone. When they finally reached it, they were late, much to Cerise's embarrassment. Luckily they managed to squeeze in, although Marina found herself sitting next to a Hath; or what resembled a Hath, anyway.

They were sitting in a huge coliseum, and on a raised platform on the edge of the asteroid stood Merry. She glanced back and saw Clara, Cerise and Marina, who all smiled encouragingly at her. Then she turned back to face the golden pyramid and the mighty red star, and after a short pause, began to sing. Another voice, from an unseen singer could be heard, they and Merry singing a lullaby duet.

"_Akhaten, lay down my king, sleep now eternal, oh God of Akhaten, sleep my precious, sleep. Lay down, oh God of Akhaten…" _

"You know" murmured the Doctor, "they're singing to the mummy in the temple. They call it the Old God, sometimes Grandfather" he explained. "What're they singing?" asked Cerise. "The Long Song, a lullaby without end, to feed the Old God. To keep him asleep, it's been going on for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation".

All around them, the other aliens began to lift up objects in their palms. "What they doing?" asked Clara. "These are offerings. Gifts of value, mementos to feed the Old God" revealed the Doctor. All around them, the offerings were melting into golden light and floating up into the sky. They began to sway and chant along with the music; it was a great, communal, beautiful sight.

And then, just when everything seemed calm and lovely, a rumbling noise came across space from the temple. Merry stopped singing and looked around fearfully, wondering what to do. Murmurs and mutters abounded as everyone wondered what was going on, why the song had ended early. Then a golden light shot out from the top of the pyramid and enveloped Merry, lifting her off the podium and dragging her towards the sacred place.

"What's happening? Is that supposed to happen?" asked Clara. Merry screamed for help. "I'm gonna go with no, come on!" said Cerise, scrambling out of her seat and running out of the coliseum. "Where's that alien, the barking one?" she asked the Doctor. "Her name's Doreen, and she's down here" he told her. When they reached Doreen, Cerise pointed at the moped and said "We need that, pronto".

Doreen growled and barked loudly. "She says she wants payment, something precious" the Doctor translated helpfully. "Well? You're a thousand years old, you must have _something_ of sentimental value with you" Clara pointed out. The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver. "This, and I don't want to give it away, because it comes in handy" he said. "Your pockets are bigger on the inside, they're full of precious stuff!" Cerise protested.

"I cleaned them out! I don't have anything except my sonic and…" the Doctor paused, placing a hand over his right heart, where _her _glasses were. He hesitated. "Doctor, we've got to save Merry!" urged Clara. The Doctor sighed, and pulled out the pair of glasses, giving them one last longing gaze. "Goodbye" he whispered sadly, before handing them to Doreen. She placed them carefully on top of some more goods and handed him the keys to the moped.

The Doctor climbed aboard, and so did Clara. "It only seats two" he realised. "Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Cerise, waving them off. "We'll be fine. Go on, go and save Merry!" urged Marina. Clara held tight around the Doctor's waist as he opened the throttle and set the moped into hover mode. They raced off, leaving Doreen, Marina and Cerise below them.

"Come on, let's get back to the coliseum" said Cerise. They hurried away from the stall, but Cerise turned back at the last moment and called "Thank you!" Then she hurried after Marina, leaving Doreen barking loudly at her back.

By the time they made it back to the coliseum, the glowing orb trapping Merry and the lights on the futuristic moped had shrunk to the size of an orange and a few blue grapes. "Come on, Doctor, catch her" Marina murmured. Then the lights disappeared as Merry vanished into the pyramid and the Doctor and Clara half landed, half crashed outside it. The Rings of Akhaten collectively held their breaths.

Cerise felt helpless, and frustrated. "I wish we could get over there!" she exclaimed, and was answered by three short, deep barks. "Doreen?" asked Marina, staring at the alien vendor. Doreen growled again and held out two discs, covered in symbols. "What are they?" Marina wondered. Suddenly struck with an idea, Cerise reached out and took one from Doreen's clawed hand. "I think they're transmat discs" she said. Doreen nodded vigorously.

Marina took the other disc, and Doreen mimed how to operate them, by slamming them together. She kept her hand held out, and Cerise realised Doreen wanted payment for the goods. At first she was cross at the lack of generosity, and then worried. She wasn't sure if she had anything sentimental with her, except…Cerise slid her bracelet off of her wrist, the bracelet that Marina had given her for Christmas last year. It was the only thing she had that felt connected to something special; her first and only best friend.

With a sigh, she handed it to Doreen. Marina handed over her earrings. "They're my mum's, she let me borrow them", she explained. Then they clapped the discs together and disappeared in a flash of light. Disorientated, Marina and Cerise found themselves outside the temple. The Doctor was holding a stone door up with…the sonic screwdriver. "Sonic screwdrivers, is there anything they don't do?" Cerise quipped as she and Marina walked into the temple.

The Doctor stared at them. "Cerise, Marina? What are…how did you get here?" he asked in bewilderment. Clara was pinned against a glass case by purplish energy, inside said case was an ugly looking mummified figure, and a robed man was singing to it with a note of desperation in his voice. "Doreen gave us a teleport" explained Marina, "Merry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but you won't be if you don't leave!" Merry insisted. "Yes, we should all walk out of this _astonishingly heavy door, _and never come back!" said the Doctor, straining to keep the door from crashing down and crushing him. And then, he gave up, ducked out from under the door, and snatched his screwdriver up Indiana Jones style. "Did you just lock us in?" asked Clara. "Yep".

"With the soul eating monster" she continued. "Soul eating? Please tell me you mean the soles of shoes" said Cerise. "No, actual souls, and is there a way out?" Clara asked the Doctor, who replied, "Possibly. Probably, there usually seems to be". They noted that the robed man was still singing, the same phrases over and over in a low voice. "Doctor, why is he still singing?" asked Clara.

The Doctor knelt down in front of the man. "He's trying to send the Old God back to sleep, but that's never gonna happen, he's waking up mate. He's coming, ready or not. You wanna run" he told the chorister, who stopped, nearly choked, mid sentence. There was a pause. "That's it then, songs over" said the Doctor. "The song is over" the man repeated. He stood up and announced, "My name is Chorister Resbethecs, and the Long Song…ended with me". Then he pressed a button on a teleport device mounted to his wrist and disappeared.

"Okay yeah, see you later, it's not like we need help or anything" Cerise said sarcastically. The Doctor did something with the sonic screwdriver to the mummy, which roared and began slamming its hands against the glass. Marina yelped and grabbed Cerise, half pulling her away and half hiding behind her. "You've woken him!" cried Merry, retreating. "It's awake?" asked Clara, who was still pinned against the glass. "What's it doing?"

The Doctor replied, "Having a nice stretch, and no, we didn't wake him and you didn't wake him either. He's waking because it's his time to wake, and feed, on you apparently, on your stories" he told Merry. "She didn't say stories, she said _souls_" protested Clara.

"Same thing, souls are made from stories, not atoms. Everything that happened to us, people we loved, people we lost…people we found again against all the odds. He threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul, the soul of the Queen of Years" explained the Doctor. Marina put an arm around Merry's shoulders. "Doctor, you're upsetting her" she reprimanded. "Good, she should be upset. She's sacrificing herself, she should know what that means".

Merry exclaimed, "The God _chose _me!" The Doctor walked over to her; Marina and Cerise stepped aside at his gesture. "It's not a God, it'll feed on your soul but that doesn't make it a God. It is a _vampire_, and you don't need to give yourself to it" he told Merry. "Hey, mind if I tell you a story, one you might not have heard?" he asked, and continued, "All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a faraway star that exploded, and died.

"That explosion scattered those elements across the desolation of deep space, after so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars, and new planets, and on and on it went. The elements came together, and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings! Until, eventually, they came together to make _you. _You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Galelh, and there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice, it is a _waste_".

The creature, vampire, whatever it was, roared angrily. "So, if I don't, everyone else…?" Merry began to ask. "Will be fine" the Doctor reassured her. "How?" she asked nervously. "There's always a way".

"You promise" she said hopefully. The Doctor smiled and made 'X's over his hearts. "Cross my hearts" he promised. Merry held his hand and released Clara from the energy holding her in place. The creature slammed its palms against the glass, cracking it. "Now what do we do?" asked Marina. Clara hurried over to join the others, asking the monster casually, "having a nice stretch?"

A loud rumbling noise filled the room, although it wasn't clear whether the creature was doing this, or something else. "Something's coming" said Clara, apparently choosing the 'something else' option. "What's coming?"

"The Vigil" revealed a frightened Merry. "And what's the Vigil?" asked the Doctor. "If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon, it's their job to feed her to Grandfather!" she explained, backing up to the door. With a flash of dark purple light, the creepy armoured aliens from the warehouse appeared.

Clara, Cerise and Marina edged in front of Merry, shielding her from view. "Stay back, I'm armed!" the Doctor said dramatically; although it was tempered a little when he added "with a screwdriver!" The threat proved fruitless anyway; the lead Vigil let out a blast of energy that sent the sonic screwdriver careening out of the Doctor's hands. Then it shot out a stronger blast, which flipped the Doctor over in a somersault and slammed him against the door.

"Duck!" yelled Cerise, just before another Vigil tried to blast Clara. Merry crouched down at the side of the door. Marina crawled over to the Doctor to make sure he was okay. He was still breathing, but unconscious. Cerise and Clara knelt beside Merry, glaring up at the Vigil. "Leave her alone!" demanded Clara.

"_She will be sacrificed_" the first one hissed. "Not on our watch, pal" Cerise shot back. Merry stood up, looking scared out of her wits. "What are you doing?" Clara asked her in alarm. "I've got to do this. I can't let everyone be eaten, it has to be me" she said, but she didn't sound sure. "No, it doesn't! You don't have to do this, Merry!" Clara told her, holding the little girls hands.

Meanwhile, Marina had coaxed the Doctor back into consciousness. "Mar…Marina, sonic!" he ordered. She quickly snatched it up from its place on the floor and tossed it to him. He aimed it at the Vigil, who began to shoot the energy blasts again from their hands; only to be repelled by a green force-field. "Seriously, Doctor? They look like bad Darth Vader clones, why not just set it to lightsaber?" Cerise asked sarcastically.

Clara turned to Merry and held her by the arms. "You know all the stories, you must know if there's another way out" she said urgently. Merry stammered out something about a tale, a secret song and a secret door. "And the secret song opens the secret door?" asked Clara. Merry nodded. "How does it go, can you sing it?" she asked.

In reply, Merry sang a series of notes, and another stone door slid open in the side of the chamber. "Well done, Merry" Marina praised. "Go!" shouted the Doctor, who was struggling to keep the Vigil at bay. There was nothing they could do to help him, so the three young women and the Queen of Years fled through the opening and around to the front of the temple.

The Doctor joined them all moments later, and aimed the sonic at the Vigil, who could apparently open the door. They caught a glimpse of the glass chamber imprisoning the mummy finally breaking into a million shards. It roared, and a light shot from the top of the pyramid towards the sun. The Vigil disappeared, merely faded away.

"Where did they go?" asked Clara. "Grandfather's awake, they have no function anymore" explained the Doctor. "That's good, right? They won't come after Merry anymore" said Marina. The Doctor turned to them, looking rather guilty and nervous. "Actually, I think I may have made a tactical boo-boo, more of a semantics mix up really" he said awkwardly.

"What 'boo-boo'?" asked Clara, dreading the answer, and she wasn't the only one. The Doctor pointed over his shoulder at the pyramid. "I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't, it was just Grandfather's alarm clock" he told them. "Sorry, bit lost" said Clara, "who's the Old God, is there an Old God?"

"Unfortunately, yes" replied the Doctor. They all looked up at the sun, which was roaring and churning…no, thrashing, in much the same way as the mummy in the temple. "Oh my stars" murmured Clara, accidentally making a pun. "What do we do?" she asked the Doctor, who replied, "Against that? I don't know, do you know? I don't know, any ideas?" Merry stared at him. "You promised" she said desperately. "You promised!"

"I did, I…I did promise" he murmured, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. "He'll eat us all" Merry said fearfully, "He'll spread across the system, consuming the seven worlds, and when there's no more to eat he'll embark on a new odyssey amongst the stars!"

They stared up at the sun, the Old God. "So, does anyone have a plan?" asked Cerise. Clara shrugged. "We could go to the Lake District" she suggested. "Oh the Lake District's lovely, let's definitely go there" the Doctor said with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. "We can have scones, they do great scones in 1927".

Without taking her eyes off the malfeasant sun, Clara stated, "You're going to fight it, aren't you?" The Doctor answered, "Regrettably, yes, I think I may be about to do that". Then Cerise added, "And you want us all to run so we're not in danger, don't you?"

The Doctor turned to them, and said very seriously, "When worlds are in danger, I don't like to walk away, but when I'm trying to protect something precious", here he glanced at Merry, "I run, fast as I can, and I don't stop until I am out from under the shadow. I need you three to do the same. Clara and Merry take the moped, you two use those teleports, there should be enough power left in them for one last jump. Off you pop".

They hesitated, and then Merry stepped forwards and hugged the Doctor around the waist. "Be careful" she implored him. "She's right, Doctor. Don't do anything stupid" warned Cerise. The Doctor smiled, patted Merry on the cheek, and then walked off to confront the parasitic star creature.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

A/N: I know chapter seven was crazy long, I just couldn't find a good place to stop! Tell me, do you like reading longer chapters, or would you rather they were shorter?

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Vworp On

Chapter Eight 

Clara and the Doctor disembarked from the moped, having vanquished the emotional parasite that had been terrorising the Rings of Akhaten for millennia. Merry hurried over and embraced Clara; Cerise ran towards the Doctor, who opened his arms wide, expecting a congratulatory hug. Instead, she slapped him hard across the face. "Ow!"

"I said, I told you, don't do anything stupid. Giving your memories away was stupid!" she snapped at the Doctor as he rubbed his stinging cheek. "What? No, you don't understand. I didn't give away my memories" he told Cerise, who stared at him as if he'd informed her she had two heads. "Then...what was all the light and shouting and…" she asked bewilderedly.

The Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders. "Trust me, Cerise. Everything is fine, okay?" he said gently. Cerise bit her lip and shook her head. "Doctor, I think you're missing something. Their sun's gone" she said plainly, hoping to coax him into a realisation. "The parasite is destroyed, yes. It can't hurt them anymore" the Doctor replied, seeming rather proud of himself.

Cerise made a gesture similar to strangling an invisible person, and said, "Yeah, it was a parasite, but it was also _their sun. _Without which they have no heat, or light, or gravitational force holding them in orbit!" Even as she spoke, the temperature seemed to be dropping, and a dark shadow crossed the Doctor's face as he realised he had just made a huge mistake.

Merry approached the Doctor, with an expression that was both scared and imperious at the same time. "You said everyone would be fine. How do we live without a sun? How do we live without our God?" she demanded. The Doctor looked helpless. Cerise knelt down and beckoned the young Queen over. "Don't worry, the Doctor will think of something. He just needs a little time. I know this has been a really, really bad day for you, but I need you to do one more thing for us.

"Everyone here is probably confused, and scared. You can calm them down. Tell them a story, or sing a song; something to keep their minds off what happened today. D'you think you can do that?" she asked. Merry nodded in determination. "Good girl. Clara, help her with what to say. Mar, me and you'll help the Doctor. I've got you time" she said to the Doctor, glaring at him, "now use it".

Nodding, the Time Lord began to pace back and forth, thinking furiously. A sun was just a star, stars were formed from a nebula collapsing under its own gravity…a gravity warp! Yes, one of those, and the smaller, uninhabited rocks from around the system…"Yes!" he exclaimed, seizing Cerise and Marina's hands and dragging them away.

Meanwhile, Merry had stepped onto the golden platform once again. She looked at Clara nervously, whispering "what do I say?"

Clara was at a loss, but then inspiration struck. "Why don't you tell them the story the Doctor told you? The story even the Queen of Years hadn't known. That's bound to get their attention" she suggested. Merry thought about it. "I think I have a better idea" she murmured, closing her eyes. For a few minutes Merry neither moved nor spoke, and everyone murmured and shuffled restlessly, wondering what in the seven worlds was going on.

"_Be you young or be you old, hear this tale that I've been told. I once thought I knew them all, but now I see there's so much more. You and I and everything came from a star. A star that burned out long ago and so very far. And all the star was made of, slowly came together, and formed us and our worlds, and lives in us forever". _

Merry's voice was enchanting; Clara found herself swaying gently side to side. Merry paused and glanced at Clara, who smiled back at her. "_Stars may die, but stars are born, every eve and every morn. Shoes to wear and ships to sail, wax to melt and kings to reign. All of this and so much more, from stars it came. When it's time for us to sleep, stars we'll remain. For just like our fathers, and like our mothers, there's only one of each of us, and there'll never be another". _

Raucous applause burst from the stars, with Clara the most enthusiastic, and Merry grinned, taking a bow. She jumped off of the platform and was promptly hugged tight by Clara. "That was amazing. I can't believe you made up a song on the spot like that!" she praised. Merry blushed, and answered, "It was easy, really. I just sang from the heart".

/

The Doctor's plan proved to be quite simple, but marvellously effective. With the help of a gravity warp created with some fancy TARDIS flying, he crushed thousands of loose rocks and even the pyramid, which everyone agreed was probably unnecessary now that the God it was meant to honour was gone. The swirling mass collapsed more and more, until it finally burst in a flash of golden light, and literally shone brightly as a new star.

Everyone cheered and applauded for their new sun. The TARDIS dematerialised from above the new star into thin air. "Do you think he'll land where he parked before?" asked Marina. Cerise shrugged. "I don't see why he wouldn't" she said absently, "oh! I just remembered, there's something I've gotta get first. Meet you at the TARDIS!"

She made her way back to Doreen's stall, who barked loudly at her in greeting. "_Bark _to you too. Listen, I need the Doctor's glasses back, and I'm not paying for them" Cerise stated bluntly. Doreen half growled and half hissed at her, but Cerise was past being phased by irritated alien saleswomen. "No, I'm not paying for them because they're not yours to sell. They belonged to someone who was very special to the Doctor and he deserves to be able to hold onto a piece of her" she said determinedly.

Doreen turned and rummaged amongst her wares, before turning to Cerise and holding in her clawed hands not only Amy's glasses, but Marina's earrings and Cerise's bracelet. Cerise grinned and took the offered objects, stowing them safely in her jacket pockets. "Thank you, for everything" she told Doreen, before walking away with a grin and a skip in her step.

Marina, Clara, the Doctor and Merry were all standing outside the TARDIS when Cerise strode up. "You look very happy" the Doctor commented, smiling. "Why wouldn't I be? We saved the Rings twice, everybody lives…Doctor, Marina, close your eyes. Now, hold your hands out". Cerise deposited Marina's earrings in her upturned palm, and the pair of glasses onto the Doctor's. "Okay, open 'em" she grinned.

Their eyes went wide. "She gave them back?" asked Marina. "I didn't think she'd give our stuff back" Cerise admitted, "I just went back to get the Doctor's glasses; as a reward, you know" she told the Doctor, who was beaming down at the glasses in his hand. He put them on and asked her, "What am I being rewarded for?"

"Giving them away in the first place, and your memories- cos I don't believe the parasite didn't take _any _of your memories, but as long as you remember who we all are then…point is, you've been really selfless today, and y'know, I'm proud of you" explained Cerise. The Doctor pulled her into a crushing hug. "Thanks, Cerise" he said gratefully. "You're…welcome…vision…blurring" she gasped theatrically. He chuckled and let go of her.

Farewell hugs were shared and promises to return made. Back inside the TARDIS, Clara asked to be dropped off at the Maitland's house to sort out a few important matters. They landed on the very same day they left, much to the Doctor's smug delight. "We'll be waiting here for you when you get back" he told Clara, who replied "Oh, you don't have to wait for me Doctor. I'm staying here for two months".

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "What?" he cried incredulously, "why two months?" he demanded. Clara rolled her eyes in exasperation. "It doesn't have to be two months for you, Chin Boy" she reminded him. "I know, but why two months?"

Clara brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Cos, I can't just go running off and leave the Maitland's, they're counting on me. So, I'm giving George two months to find a replacement for me, and _only then _will I go off with you in your snog box" she explained. The Doctor muttered a testy remark about how the TARDIS "wasn't a snog box" and then said aloud, "of course you can run off, that's the whole point of a time machine. Beside, you have to stay!" he protested.

Arms folded, Clara quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why?" she asked bluntly. The Doctor hesitated. "Because…well, because you're…you remind me of…of someone I met, someone who died" he said vaguely. "Yeah, well, I'm not going to compete with a ghost. I'll see you in two months, yeah?" With a smile, Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, who didn't waste any time in dematerialising into the Vortex.

The Doctor returned to the console to try and get his wayward craft under some semblance of control. "Don't worry, Doctor" said, Marina, in an attempt to cheer him up, "you still have us".

"Yeah, Mar's right. And you have two whole months to work on your therapy!" Cerise added cheerfully. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I don't need therapy, Cerise, I'm fine" the Doctor told Cerise, who turned to Marina and said in a grave voice, "the first stage is always denial. We don't charge anything" she informed the Time Lord.

The Doctor moved around the console to the other side. "Well, you're not exactly professional, are you?" he pointed out, half amused and half exasperated. Cerise came up beside him and said "May I remind you, I got Amy's glasses back for you. You owe me". The Doctor flicked a few switches unnecessarily and replied, "There's a stunning emerald forest on the planet of Crystallia, and the views are stunning there. Let's visit, shall we?"

Cerise huffed in annoyance. "Alright, since I can't force you to do this – stupid ethical laws – you've left me no choice. _Please" _she whined, wrapping her arms around his middle from behind. "Please, please, pretty please with a TARDIS on top!"

The Doctor released her grip around his waist and twisted around so he was leaning against the console. "Why is this so important to you?" he asked quietly. Cerise opened her mouth, closed it again, and fidgeted uncomfortably, not meeting his gaze. "We, well, we just want to help you get over losing Amy and Rory" said Marina.

"You _are _helping. Just having people around to talk to is helping" the Doctor reassured them. "But we can't stay" Cerise burst out. "We've gotta leave and then...it's not fair, okay, it's…you're a good person, you might not think so but you are, and you shouldn't have people hating you or be hating yourself. I don't know, okay? I can't explain why you matter so much, to us, to every Whovian. You just do" she told the Doctor.

He sighed and turned his gaze downwards, considering. Wondering, could they really heal him? The very least, he decided he could do, would be to give them a chance. "Alright" he said resignedly, "I'll meet you in the parlour in an hour". Cerise beamed at him and gave him a brief, tight hug. "You won't regret this, I promise!" she assured him eagerly, before tugging Marina away through the corridors.

They walked side by side through the enormous sprawl of the TARDIS. "D'you know where the parlour is?" asked Marina. Cerise shrugged. "No idea, but I'm sure Sexy can lead us to it. Besides, we need to fetch your laptop for a bit of research" she explained. The Doctor had fixed their phones and laptops up with a constant Wi-Fi connection and universal roaming. After retrieving Marina's laptop from their bedroom, they went on a search for the parlour.

The first room they encountered was filled with an assortment of odds and ends. "Wrong room" said Marina, but Cerise went further in. "Yeah, but there might be stuff in here we can use" she pointed out. They rummaged amongst the junk. Cerise heaved a stack of chairs out of the way and spied something plastic and colourful behind them. "Ah-ha, perfect. Hey Mar, come and help me with this would you?"

They finally managed to find the parlour, and had fifteen minutes to set everything up for the therapy session. "What d'you think the Doctor's doing?" asked Marina as she helped Cerise clear a wide space in the middle of the room. Cerise shrugged and picked up a priceless looking Chinese vase, gingerly stowing it next to the fireplace, tucked out of the way. "No idea, I just hope he doesn't swan off and not come" she replied.

/

The Doctor stepped back into the TARDIS, feeling frustrated. He had been following Clara's timeline, trying to figure out what was different about her, but she was just a normal girl. But she couldn't be! She wasn't! At least he understood the significance of the leaf now. He had wondered, although he hadn't admitted it, why a single leaf could be so important. It was a shame the parasite had destroyed it, really.

He remembered he was supposed to be having a 'therapy' session, and wandered through the corridor to the parlour with all the enthusiasm of someone being sent to the gallows. He really didn't relish the idea of talking about himself and his problems to anyone, least of all two people he hardly knew. The TARDIS made a beeping noise and vibrated harder, as if she was telling him that they were only trying to help and not to be so ungrateful. He smiled meekly, and pushed open the door to the parlour.

Marina was sitting in an armchair, with her laptop balanced on her knees. Cerise was leaning over the back of a second armchair, and a third one faced them, presumably for him. "Hi" said Cerise, "you don't have to sit down, but there's a chair there if you want to". He thanked her absently and dropped into the cushioned seat. Cerise sat down and tucked her knees under her chin, wrapping her arms around them. "So, what d'you wanna know about us?" she asked cheerfully.

The Doctor blinked in confusion. "Know…about you?" he questioned. Cerise nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking while we waited for you, and I realised, we've not had a chance to tell you about ourselves yet. Then I thought, you'd probably want to talk to friends; not that we're not friends, of course, but we know lots about you and you hardly know anything about us so, ask away!" she invited.

"Oh, okay. Um…" the Doctor cast around for a good question. "Where d'you live?" he asked. Marina told him the name of their hometown. "It's in Britain, on the coast. I live with my parents in a terraced house in the old town, and Cerise lives with her parents and sister out in the suburbs" she explained. "Oh, I just remembered! You know how there's loads of universes and you're looking for just one?" Cerise asked the Doctor, who nodded.

"Well I was thinking, right, what if there was something that our universe had and this universe had, but not every universe had. So I thought, if our town exists in this universe, you could sort of…use it to narrow down the options, cos it's not like _every _universe is gonna have our hometown in it, right?" she explained. "No, actually. That's a good idea…you've been thinking a lot, haven't you?" he asked rhetorically in amusement.

Then he asked them about their families. Cerise described her family first. "My dad's called Kevin, and my mum's called Suzanne. He works from home as a designing engineer, and she's the director of a small company. Err…I've got an older brother, Ian, he's twenty five, but he doesn't live at home anymore. My little sister still does, obviously. Her name's Lucy, and she's sixteen – and a right pain" she told the Doctor.

"My dad's called Edward, he supports Manchester City, and my mum's called Louise, she loves music and reading books. And erm… I have a sister called Helen and a brother –in-law called Mike, they both live in our old hometown in Lancashire with two shiatsu dogs, Eddie and Rollo." Marina added. The Doctor then asked, "When did you two first meet?"

"Well Cerise and I met at a group we go to on Saturday afternoons, well our mentor first introduced to each other before that". Marina explained. "My mentor told me that someone who was in the same university year as I am, was writing a new book for children, and she wanted someone to illustrate her book. And I said I would like to meet her. And then on that day, I discovered that author was Cerise and from the first day we met, we became the best of friends since then".

There was a brief, not too awkward silence. "So, ready to talk about yourself?" Cerise asked the Doctor, who grimaced. "As I'll ever be" he sighed, and Cerise grinned. "Eh, don't worry. You won't have to talk about yourself much. So!" she jumped out of her seat and began pacing, "we've narrowed; no wait, _grouped _your problems into three main issues. Emotional repression, survivor's guilt, and PCD. Post Companion Depression" she explained.

Marina spoke up. "We've been researching ways to cure emotional repression, and we found a list of symptoms. There are some here which apply to you a lot; ignoring your feelings, pretending something hasn't happened, always keeping busy, and burying emotions under a mask" she explained.

Cerise gestured to the laptop and said "the site also explains why _humans _repress emotions, but I came up with a slightly different theory for you". The Doctor raised his eyebrows, and asked "Which is?"

Cerise took a deep breath and went into lecture mode. "Your emotions are stronger than humans, which I think is because you're telepathic, but you were raised in a society that frowns upon displays of emotion and learned to supress them.

"Now you obviously have the fight or flight reflex, so I assume you experience stress, and saving the world from the Monster of the Week has gotta be stressful. But here's the thing; you don't deal with your emotions, not as often as you should anyway; you repress them, you get stressed, have an 'episode' and repress them even more. It's a vicious circle" she explained.

The Doctor leaned back in his armchair and put his arms behind his head. "It's an interesting theory" he admitted, "and parts of it are accurate...in a way. Not everything. What gave you the idea my emotions are stronger than humans?" he asked Cerise, who shrugged. "I just assumed, since you're cleverer than us humans, have quicker reflexes; I guess I just thought all your mental capabilities were stronger than ours. Which parts did I get right?" she asked eagerly.

The Time Lord smirked. "Not telling" he replied, making Cerise stick her tongue out at him. "So err, shall we move on?" asked Marina. "Huh? Oh yeah, right. Let me get everything out ready" said Cerise, pulling various objects from their hiding places around the room. A blow-up clown doll, a large crystal from Metebelis Three, and a pad of paper and pencils and an eraser. "First things first…Doctor, I want you to punch this doll".

A/N: The website they talk about is real, and right….here: fa_

Knowing FFN, the link won't work, so you'll have to copy and paste if you want to have a look.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

A/N: Okay, apparently FFN doesn't want to put the link up at all. Which is strange, because I've seen web links on pages before; not that they worked, of course, but still. I don't own the site I mentioned last chapter either.

Edit: OMG the latest episode was amazing! I keep seeing Rose/Eleven fanfics and Clara/Eleven fanfics, but where are all the TARDIS/Eleven fanfics? That episode was on par with _The Rings of Akhaten _and _The Doctor's Wife _in my book!

Vworp On

Chapter Nine 

"I'm sorry, what?" the Doctor asked bemusedly. Cerise plonked the plastic, vapidly grinning doll in the middle of the room and strode over to the Doctor's seat. Slipping a hand under his arm, she tugged the Time Lord out of his chair and over to the unsuspecting target. "The first step to releasing emotions is to do something physical, in this case, punching the shitake mushrooms out this dumb thing" she explained.

Then Cerise pointed to the pad of blank paper. "The next step is to write down or draw what you're feeling, that's what the paper is for…I'm not sure what's with the crystal" she admitted. "Oh, I picked that up. I don't really know why, I just felt like I should" explained Marina.

The Doctor picked up the crystal from the table it rested on and turned it over in his hands. "It's from Metebelis Three" he informed them, "It's designed to enhance telepathy". Cerise smiled widely. "Well then, it'll come in handy! So, it's really simple" she said, steering the Doctor over to the doll again. "I want you to imagine that this doll is someone, or something, you hate, someone who's done you wrong, who's mocking you with that gormless smile; and punch him until said smile looks more like a grimace. Let all that anger out" she explained cheerfully.

Marina kicked the doll, which rocked backwards and sprang back to an upright position. "See, it's weighted at the bottom so you won't knock it over. Cerise and I are just going to fetch a few things" she told the Doctor. "But I'm not angry right now" he protested, utterly bewildered.

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Cerise followed Marina to the door. "Make yourself angry, then. Think of the Daleks, or the Silence, or Tony Blair, I don't know. We're going to get some nice tea, and tissues. You'll probably need both". And with that, she closed the door, leaving the Doctor alone in a room with nothing but an inanimate doll to keep him company.

_This is stupid _he thought uncharitably. Honestly, he knew his companions meant well, but punching a child's toy wouldn't help matters. The Doctor waited until he thought the girls would be out of sight, and went to the door, planning to read in the library for a while and then sneak back in later. The fact that it wouldn't take them long to make cups of tea and find a box of tissues evidently didn't occur to him. In any case his endeavours proved fruitless; the door was firmly locked.

Sighing, the Doctor directed his gaze towards the ceiling. "Tell me, dear" he murmured, "are you imprisoning me for my own good, or because it amuses you to watch me make a complete fool of myself?" The series of beeps that sounded from the TARDIS sounded more like a stifled snigger to his ears. The Doctor glanced at the doll. Well…perhaps he could punch it a couple of times. That was what these things were designed for, after all; to be pushed and shoved around.

Standing in front of the doll, he closed his eyes and drew his fist back. Merely to amuse himself, he imagined punching a Weeping Angel right on the nose. The Doctor wasn't a violent man, of course, but the thought was still humorous, especially considering all those foul creatures had done to him…torn away his best friends…toyed with his Amelia's life in their sadistic games…nearly stealing his TARDIS and stranding him in the past…the Doctor's fist clenched, and drove forwards before he'd even realised he'd moved.

It connected with the plastic face of the doll with a strangely satisfying 'thwop' sound. The clownish figure rocked back and forth under the force of the blow; and strangely enough, the Doctor did feel a little better. Who else would he like to punch?

Madam Kovarian came to mind; the woman who had kidnapped and raised an innocent child to be his murderer, who callously imprisoned and harmed Amy physically and emotionally simply to bring him grief…it didn't take long for the Doctor's ire to rise and the hapless doll get three more energetic punches. The Doctor failed to notice the blue crystal glowing slightly as it channelled and increased his emotions.

More enemies, old and new, floated to the forefront of his consciousness; the Daleks, the Cybermen, Rassilon, Davros. He took out his hatred of them on the doll, going so far as to kick it over and stamp on it. Still more memories poured forth, of being mistreated as a child on Gallifrey…which sparked the memory of its loss and his unwanted 'victory'...with a final heavy stamp, the Doctor broke the plastic coating of the doll, which burst with a sudden bang that shocked him out of his dark musings.

"Blimey, punching those things must be…addictive, or something. Yikes. Okay, calm down, calm down..." he breathed deeply and slowly, or tried to, but his breath kept hitching. He kept _remembering, _and he didn't want to remember. Perhaps he should have given his memories to the parasite after all. He remembered Amy and Rory's smiling faces, he recalled River dying in the silent Library, and he recollected his home planet before it burned. Tears stung his eyes, and trickled down his cheeks.

The door opened behind him, and the Doctor turned, hastily wiping his face with his hand, to see Cerise standing there with a mug of hot chocolate and whipped cream in one hand, and a cotton handkerchief in the other. She smiled slightly and stepped forwards, holding both out to him. The Doctor took the hankie and blew his nose, before sitting down with the chocolate beverage and staring down at it. He scooped some of the cream from the top with a finger and licked it thoughtfully.

The girls sat in their own armchairs, curled up with hot chocolates of their own. Nobody spoke. Then at last the Doctor said, "I think…I needed this. More than I thought" he admitted. Cerise glanced at the destroyed toy and muttered, "Yeah, you were certainly thorough". She brushed her fringe out of her eyes and asked the Doctor, "Do you feel any better?"

"I…now that I think about it, I still feel angry, and sad, but…I'm not sure what I'm angry and sad _about_" the Doctor admitted in puzzlement. Then Marina spoke up, pointing at the Metebelis crystal. "Is it just me, or is that crystal sort of glowing?" she asked. They peered at it; it was indeed shimmering, and seemed almost to thrum with energy. "Of course!" exclaimed the Doctor, smacking his forehead. "The crystal absorbs latent telepathic and ambient energy and emits it back into the room. That's why I became so upset so suddenly…and it's also why you're crying, Cerise".

Cerise started, and wiped at her eyes. They were, to her surprise, dampened. "Huh. Um…if that crystal is all full of…negative emotions and stuff, does that mean we can't use it anymore?" she questioned. "Yes…well, no. It could still be used if I cleansed it with positive emotions; but I'd have to focus on something that's only positive. It seems like all the good things in my life have bad things to go along with them" he sighed.

"Even the TARDIS?" Marina half inquired, half suggested. This turned out to be a good suggestion; the Doctor associated very few unpleasant memories with his beloved ship. At the Doctor's request, they passed the crystal over. He held it in both hands, sitting up straight in the armchair with his eyes closed. The glow of the crystal turned from a rather darkish blue to gold, and the Doctor inexplicably began to glow slightly as well. "What's happening?" asked Marina. "I've no idea" Cerise replied.

The Doctor appeared to be in some kind of trance. "What do we do?" questioned Marina, and Cerise answered, "Just…leave him be, I guess".

/

The Doctor opened his eyes to find himself standing in a crimson field, beneath a burnt amber sky. Tears filled his eyes, but didn't spill, as he looked upon his home long dead. He saw a silhouette in the near distance, and began to walk towards it out of curiosity. As he approached, the figure became clearer, and the Doctors face broke into a wide smile as he realised who it was. He broke into a run and skidded to a stop before Idris, who stood there smiling at him.

"Hello, Doctor. My Doctor" she said happily. The Doctor beamed at her. "My TARDIS…are you in my head, or am I in yours?" he asked suddenly. "I doubt it matters. I'm using the Metebelis Three crystal to increase our telepathic connection. I believe this is the part where you hug me" Idris informed him. The Doctor wasted no time in giving her a warm, tight hug. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again" he murmured.

Idris pulled away and took his hand, leading him over to a large silvery tree. "Do you not get tired of being mistaken?" she teased him as they sat down. "Very funny. Ooh, look at us, talking!" the Doctor grinned enthusiastically. "So we are. What do you want to talk about?" Idris asked in amusement. The Doctor opened his mouth, closed it again, and frowned. "I don't know" he admitted. Then inspiration struck.

"You know, it's funny. Earlier today, whilst we were waiting for Cerise, Clara told me you locked her out. Seemed to think you didn't like her, which is ridiculous, of course" the Doctor commented nonchalantly. Idris suddenly became fascinated with a particular blade of grass. "Yes, ridiculous" she agreed vaguely. Then she looked up to see the Doctor staring at her, the corners of his lips quirking. "Sexy…do you not like Clara?" he asked.

It was clear from her expression that this was not a subject Idris wanted breaching. "Thief, I don't know what you mean" she said, which only made the Doctor smirk even more. "I'm going to take that as a 'yes'. Why don't you like her? Clara's great. Oh…is it because she called you a…a snog box?" he asked, blushing slightly. Idris didn't answer. "Is it because…she used to be a Dalek? Is it…oh come on old girl, give me something to work with here".

Idris glared at him, and then huffed. "I don't want to talk about Clara, Thief. Okay?" she asked. The Doctor put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay. We won't talk about Clara. Um…you know, I have this friend, who doesn't like this other friend of mine…but she won't tell me why because she's really quite annoyingly stubborn" he told Idris, who rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Is this friend of yours older than you?" she inquired, and the Doctor answered, "Yes".

"Wiser than you?"

"Uh…ow! I mean, yes"

"Good choice of word. Is she a blue box?"

"Ye-no, she's not a...I mean she's…" the Doctor floundered for the right words and Idris laughed. "Do you really want to know so bad?" she asked the Doctor, who nodded eagerly. Idris sighed and rubbed her temples. "It's just…she's not _right. _She's like the Captain or that Charley person, she shouldn't exist. I can see everything that is, was and could ever be, for every person I see. Except for them, the paradoxes. Looking at them, is like looking at black holes". Idris shuddered. "As far as I'm concerned, the more time she spends away from me the better".

The Doctor put an arm around her shoulders. "I didn't know she bothered you that much" he said apologetically, "but I still have to find out what she is, so when Clara comes back in two months; months, mind you, not years or decades; can you try to be nice to her?" he asked. "You can't make me like her" Idris replied sulkily. The Doctor chuckled.

"No, I can't, but I want you to try" he told her, trying to look stern and failing miserably. In fact he was pouting in the most adorable way… "Oh, very well. But can you drop your new assortment of strays off on a planet alone for a while and stay with me?" she pleaded. The Doctor smiled at her. "We'll see" he promised. They sat in silence for a while. "Let's change the subject" Idris said at last, "I could tell you about my other pilots, if you like" she suggested.

The Doctor looked interested, so Idris began to describe her first pilot. "He called himself the Supervisor; he was the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency. He organised the agency and sent Time Lords out on reconnaissance missions, all across the universe, in a survey that was meant to be so thorough, the Time Lords would not have to do another for thousands of years. Yes, he genuinely thought the universe would remain as dull and static as Gallifrey itself was becoming at that time".

"He was also an arrogant _traitor_" Idris said angrily, clenching her fists. The Doctor, unsure what else to do, patted her shoulder awkwardly. Idris glanced at him and smiled. "Sorry, I just…feel angry, whenever I think of him. Betrayal…isn't easy to deal with, especially for a TARDIS" she explained. The Doctor frowned. "Your pilot betrayed you? Why?" he demanded.

Idris plucked a blade of grass and rolled it idly between her thumb and forefinger. "Because he hated not being in control; the fool didn't realise neither of us were in control. Truth be told, Thief, I was a…prototype, for a new kind of TARDIS. One that would take its crew _where they needed to go_. Tell me, Thief, what is wrong with that concept?" she asked him.

The Doctor thought about it. "Well…where the crew needed to go…isn't always where they _want _to go" he said at last. "Exactly; that was the Time Lords' greatest fault, believing that what they needed and what they wanted were one and the same, when the universe, as you know, has other ideas. I was so naïve long ago. I trusted the Supervisor, I tried to be loyal…

"I saved his life, twice. First from being blown to pieces, and then from the Weeping Angels, and the second time he…he cast me aside without a second thought, didn't want his perfect vision smeared by a _rogue TARDIS_" she said bitterly. The Doctor hated to see her so miserable, so he did the only thing he could think off; pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss.

She blinked at him in surprise, flushed and smiling. "Your first pilot was an idiot" the Doctor said confidently, "you know what his problem was? He took you for granted. Don't worry old girl; I'll always be here for you, just like you'll always be here for me". Idris smiled happily at him and cuddled his arm. They sat in content, companionable silence for what felt like hours. "I never want this to end" the Doctor murmured drowsily.

"Mmm….neither do I, but we both know it has to" replied Idris. The Doctor pouted at her. "But why?" he whined. "Oh, Thief, you can speak to me anytime. It's just like you say; you and me, always. But you have a life to live outside of this dream" she told him. The Doctor sighed; he hated to admit it but she was right as usual. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, it was to find himself in the parlour once more.

He tucked the crystal into his pocket, over his heart, and ran a hand fondly along the wall as he walked down the corridor. He came to the enormous, circular swimming pool, and found his companions sunbathing under the artificial light; Marina by the pool edge, Cerise on a Lillo. Cerise waved to the Doctor from the middle of the pool. "You okay?" she called over to him. "Never better" he answered back, and he really meant it.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Chapter Ten

The next day, Marina was on her laptop doing what she normally does, creating new digital artwork. She also sang a song to herself, _"…. and do I dream again, for now I find the Phannnnntom of the Opera is there inside my mind."_

The Doctor heard her singing while he was doing some tinkering to the TARDIS. He had never her sing before. He put down his tools and walked up to her.

"Now that was a wonderful song." He said, admiringly. "Oh Doctor, I didn't heard you come." Replied Marina. The Doctor asked her, "How did you learn how to sing like that and was that song from The Phantom of the Opera, by any chance?"

"Yes. It is one of my favourite musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which reminds me I have something to ask you."

"OK then."

"Since we travelled to see Cerise's idol, William Blake, I thought we could travel somewhere that I want to go. I would like to travel back to London's West End in 1986, to see the first performance of the Phantom of the Opera, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman."

The Doctor then pointed out, "Sarah Brightman was Andrew's fiancé at the time right?"

"Yes. I really wanted to meet them all in person, can we go please?" Marina asked excitedly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's get Cerise and Clara and then we will go!"

After Marina and the Doctor explained to Cerise about their trip, the Doctor started up the Tardis, and they set off.

London, 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End. The cast was doing a dress rehearsal for the first performance on 9th October. The two main stars Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman were rehearsing the main theme song and the Music of the Night numbers. Andrew Lloyd Webber and the producer Cameron Mackintosh were in the audience seats watching them.

As they sang through the final chorus, they didn't see a black shadow up on the rafters. Suddenly a ghostly white hand cut the rope of the sandbag with a knife and aimed it to drop on the stars. With an evil laugh he cut the rope and it fell right on Michael and Sarah. "Sarah! Michael! Look out!" shouted Lloyd Webber and they ran off stage just in time. "I can not believe this is happened again," said Michael Crawford, "This is the third time this month."

"Who can help us solve this problem before opening night?" enquired Cameron Mackintosh. "And what's that noise?"

The TARDIS faded into view. "Oh hello you must be Andrew Lloyd Webber. I have just got your message about the strange goings on in the theatre." Said the Doctor cheerfully.

"How do you know who I am?" asked Lloyd Webber.

"I am the Doctor and these are my companions, Marina, Cerise and Clara."

" It is an honour to meet you Mr Lloyd Webber." Marina said excitedly. " I am one of your biggest fans."

"Please call me Andrew, and this is my producer Cameron Mackintosh and these are two main stars my fiancé Sarah and my leading man, Michael Crawford."

"Pleased to meet you all. We could really use some help." Added Sarah.

"Tell us what's going on. We can sense a mystery around here." Marina continued.

"Over the past two weeks we have been having some strange accidents, like what happened just now. A sandbag almost hurt Sarah and I." Explained Michael.

"That's awful." Said Cerise. "Looks like it is not a case of bad luck."

"Someone's trying to ruin you all and stopping the show from going on." Added Clara.

"Can you help us solve this problem? We need to get rid of what ever it is before opening night." Said Cameron.

"Don't worry gang." Said Marina kindly. "We'll help you solve this mystery, I have read Sherlock Holmes novels and watched Scooby Doo on TV a lot, so I am a bit of an expert on mystery solving."

"Let's go everyone. We got a musical to save." Added the Doctor. "Marina, Michael, Sarah, Andrew and I will take a look around stage. Cerise, you, Clara and Cameron look in the dressing rooms."

"OK Doctor."

A few hours later, the first group with The Doctor and Marina, were up stage, where they stumbled on something shiny.

"Looks like we have our first clue, a dagger." Explained Marina. "Someone or something has used this to cut the sandbag."

"Here's something else, a piece of dark cloth." Said Michael. "Someone was wearing a cape like one of my costumes."

"Pretending to be our very own Phantom of the Theatre, trying to ruin you all." Added the Doctor.

Meanwhile Cerise, Clara and Cameron were the dressing rooms, also looking for clues, but so far they found nothing. "There's got to be some clues around here somewhere." Clara said. "I hope the Doctor, Marina and the others are having better luck than we are."

Then Cerise saw something on the table, "I think we may have found something after all. It's a note from our very own Phantom." She said in a excited way.

The note read:

_I knew you would come here Doctor and Clara Oswald, trying to save this production. Well you will never catch me and soon I will discover your greatest secret, you shall fall and I will have my revenge. Signed Dr. S_

"Dr. S?" asked Cameron Mackintosh. "Who is he?"

"I think I know, let's get back to the others." Replied Cerise.

A few hours later, everyone got back onto the stage and analysed the evidence. "What did you guys find?" asked the Doctor.

"We found a letter in one of the dressing rooms, signed Dr. S." explained Clara.

"We found a dagger and a piece of cloth from our Phantom's costume." added Sarah.

"What does it all mean?" asked Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"Dr. S…." Marina pondered as she read the note. "Aha! Of course, Dr. S, and the clues they add up!"

"What do you mean Marina?" asked Michael.

"Elementary my dear Michael Crawford," explained Marina. "Our own Phantom is none other than, Dr. Simeon! He somehow managed to travel in time to here from Victorian London, to sabotage the show. He also knew that the Doctor and Clara would come and solve this mystery with us. And the next time he appears he was trying to lay a trap for us."

"So he can have revenge against me and Clara, of course!" added the Doctor.

"I haven't met Dr. Simeon." Said Clara.

"Don't you remember?" asked the Doctor. "I met another you in Victorian London and he created the mutant snowmen with the Great Intelligence and yet you died and you are still alive now."

Clara looked at the Doctor as if she didn't understand a word he said. And at that moment Dr. Simeon appeared in his Phantom costume on the rafters. "So you figured me out, well Doctor you will never win. Because soon I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE AND DESTROY YOU!"

"You will never get away with this!" Marina shouted. "He will defeat you one way or another."

"My clever friend is right," added the Doctor. "You will not defeat me whatever plan you try." With the sonic screwdriver he cut the ropes of the rickety bridge and Dr. Simeon lost his footing and fell down to the stage with a crash.

"I would have gotten away with this too, if it weren't fro you meddling time travellers." Growled Dr. Simeon and before everyone got their hands on him he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Aren't you going after him?" asked Cerise.

"Let him retreat, but I have no doubt he will be back." Replied the Doctor.

"Oh thank you Doctor, Marina, everyone. You have saved our performance," said Andrew Lloyd Webber. "As a token of appreciation, Marina how would you like to be a guest star in our performance at the encore?"

Marina's faced beamed with happiness.

"Go on then." Said the Doctor. "You were the one who solved this mystery, and beat Simeon at his own game."

"Oh thank you Doctor." Replied Marina, and she gave him a big hug.

A few days later, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton and their fellow cast members were doing their curtain call on opening night in front of a huge crowd. Michael stepped forward.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to take this opportunity to perform an encore with our hero of the theatre. She and her friends have solved the mystery of the accidents that happened here and saved all our lives."

"Give a round of applause to our biggest fan, Marina Rosenthorpe", concluded Sarah.

The audience, Andrew, Cameron, The Doctor, Clara and Cerise clapped and cheered loudly, as Marina came onto the stage. The main song started and they sang to their hearts content. Marina began the song:

"_In sleep he sang to me in dreams he came,_

_that voice which calls to me and speaks my name_

_and do I dream again_ _for now I find,_

_the Phannnnntom of the Opera is there,_

_inside my mind."_

Then followed by Michael:

"_Sing once again with me our strange duet,_

_my power over you goes stronger yet._

_Although you turn from me to glance behind_

_The Phannnnntom of the Opera is there inside your mind."_

"Marina is really good." Said Clara. "I think she will make a great star one day."

"I know," added the Doctor. "She is our Angel of Music right Cerise?"

"You know it." Replied Cerise and the encore and final curtain call went on through the night.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Eleven 

The Doctor walked into the console room, to find his three companions already dressed and awake. They were sitting on or around the chair, chatting. "Good morning, girls! Sorry I slept in" he apologised. "Ah, it's okay, Doctor. We know you need your beauty sleep" teased Clara. Cerise and Marina sniggered. The Doctor chose to ignore this jibe and moved to the console. "So, where d'you three want to go today?" he questioned.

"Well, since Clara chose somewhere, and I've been where I wanted to go, well I think Cerise should choose" said Marina. Cerise got up off the floor, brushed her jeans off and wandered over to the Doctor. "I'm choosing? Right, let me think, of something good" she tapped her chin with her finger. "Okay, I wanna go to a planet, that has trees that look like furry lollipops, if such a planet even exists" she told the Doctor, who grinned.

"I'll do you one better. I know a planet where the trees _are _lollipops" he boasted as he set the co-ordinates. "Of course they're too high to reach…and they're poisonous, so you're better off not licking them…but they do look pretty!" he added as a sort of afterthought.

Two minutes later, they landed. The Doctor gestured towards the doors and said, "Out there, Cerise Woods, is the planet Sucrose, totally unique in the universe. The only place with flora that resembles Earth confectionary – _and _there are absolutely no tourists in this time period. I know you don't like crowds". Cerise beamed and gave him a quick, grateful hug. "You're the best. C'mon Mar, let's go exploring" she said eagerly, hurrying over to the door.

She pulled it open and peered out. "I don't believe it…I think we're actually in the right place!" she said in mock wonderment. They emerged into warm sunshine, in a meadow made of candy canes. The grass was actually red and white striped, curved over at the top, and springy. There were flowers that resembled boiled and wrapped up sweets and yes, trees that looked like swirly lollipops.

"Can we eat any of this stuff?" asked Clara. In answer, the Doctor plucked a cherry red flower and peeled the petals away from a round white lump in the centre. He popped it in his mouth. "Tastes like nougat" he told them. Curious, Cerise picked a blue flower and peeled the petals. She bit into the lump. It was softer than she'd expected, and it tasted like… "mmm, peppermint".

Soon they were all picking the abundant flowers, comparing the different tastes. Red flowers had a nougat centre, yellow flowers were honey flavoured, blue ones were peppermint, green ones were orange flavoured and orange ones were coffee flavoured. Cerise liked the yellow and blue ones the best. She wandered off a little way in search of more. There were a lot of them just over a low crest, and Cerise happily stretched out in the sunshine and started plucking blue flowers. She put some of them into her pocket for later.

Some time passed, Cerise didn't know how long. Suddenly she felt a tremor, and sat up in alarm. Nothing seemed out of place, however, and she wondered if maybe she'd just imagined the jolt. Chalking it up to herself dozing off, Cerise settled back down. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself floating in the sky. The daydream became so realistic…she could practically feel her right leg dangling in mid-air…wait a second.

Cerise's eyes opened wide, and she looked down to find a hole opening beneath her. She rolled over, trying to get away, but the sinkhole or whatever it was collapsed under her hip. She slipped off the edge, fingers scrabbling at the candy cane grass; but her body was twisted awkwardly and she couldn't get a grip. She screamed in terror, falling and flailing, until she hit the ground with enough force to knock the air from her lungs. She rolled down a steep hill and crashed into something hard and unyielding. Pain exploded through her body and she passed out.

/

A few feet away, the Doctor heard the scream and came running, Clara and Marina hot on his heels. They found a large, jagged edge hole, but no sign of Cerise. "Cerise! Cerise, can you hear me!" he shouted down the hole. There was no reply.

Marina pulled out her phone and began to type a number in. "Who're you calling?" the Doctor asked incredulously. "Cerise, of course" answered Marina. "She's got her phone with her, I saw her put it in her pocket. If we're lucky it won't be broken and we'll know if she's alright" she explained. The phone rang once, twice…ten times before a computerised voice announced '_The number you have dialled is not available. Please try again later'. _

"Oh no" gasped Marina, staring at her phone and then at the hole in horror. "Cerise! Cerise!" she shouted desperately. Suddenly the ground shook harder and more soil began tumbling in around the edges. The Doctor lunged forwards and yanked Marina back. The soil caved in the hole. "Marina, give me your phone" the Doctor commanded, and she handed it over at once.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning Marina's mobile. "If I can trace the signal that your phone sent to hers, I can use it to get a fix on Cerise's location and rescue her in the TARDIS" he explained.

/

Her whole body throbbed with pain, and it was freezing cold. Groaning, Cerise opened her eyes and strained them hard, trying to see through the oppressive gloom. There was some sort of faint bluish light emanating through this…cave, she supposed, judging by the stalagmite she'd hit. The side of her resting against the rock hurt the most; deep, sharp stabs of pain. Cerise had never broken a rib before, but now she guessed that she'd broken several.

She tried not to cry, since it hurt to even breathe, let alone sob. _Don't panic _she told herself. _Consider your options. _Her phone was in her pocket, she remembered. She pulled it out and switched it on; or at least tried to. Despite all of her efforts, the phone remained unusable. _It must've broken when I landed down here. Where the hell am I, anyway? _She wondered.

It seemed to be a large cave, filled with dripping stalactites and stalagmites. The light, she noticed, was coming from glowing fungi and algae that covered the walls. Something rustled and Cerise whipped her head round, before wincing and rubbing her neck hard. Trust her to pull a muscle at a time like this.

Very, very slowly, Cerise edged around the stalagmite. She peered around the corner, and saw…a giant ant. Not just an unusually large ant, but an actual, enormous ant. It was the size of a horse, for goodness sake. And there was another, and another…there was a whole colony of them! Cerise watched, fascinated in spite of herself, as the ants scurried back and forth with no apparent rhyme or reason.

As she looked more closely, Cerise noticed that they didn't quite move like ants. They supported all their weight on their back two legs, which were much thicker than their forelegs. Finally, Cerise remembered where she'd seen these creatures before; in an episode called _The Web Planet, _and that they were called Zarbi. She smirked, remembering the ridiculous sight of people in ant costumes.

It was puzzling, though…_shouldn't the Zarbi be on their own planet?_, Cerise thought in confusion. She remembered that in the episode, the Zarbi were like cows, but they were being controlled by some mind-controlling thing. If they were here because another mind controlling thing had brought them, she was in trouble. She couldn't run, couldn't even stand up; she tried and it was like tearing her side open, so she remained on the ground behind the stalagmite.

Cerise was definitely scared, not to mention cold and in pain. It wasn't the first time she'd been scared out of her wits, obviously, but all the other times she'd at least been able to move. Moving was good, she decided, moving distracted you. Now she was hungry, too; but she had some of those flower sweets in her pocket, she recalled. Pulling on out, she frowned at the bright yellow flower. It seemed so out of place down here.

She pulled off the two ruffled petals and peeled the rest from the white bead, before nibbling it in an effort to make it last. Who knew how long she'd be stuck down here? Cerise did her best not to shudder. If there was one thing she was terrified of, it was being trapped. She'd always been claustrophobic. She swallowed that flower sweet and pulled out another one.

Cerise heard a loud screech right above her head and winced, covering her ears. She looked up cautiously to find a Zarbi standing over her, its feelers waving madly about. Cerise chuckled nervously. "Peppermint?" she asked, holding out a blue flower. The Zarbi let out another screech and leant down; Cerise screamed and ducked, covering her head with her arms.

The aliens pincers grabbed onto her hair – her _hair _– and pulled her right off the ground. "Ow! Let – ow, let go!" she yelled, her eyes watering. Fortunately, the Doctor chose that moment to materialise the TARDIS in the cave. The Zarbi dropped her in surprise and Cerise stumbled, clutching her broken ribs and grimacing. The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, sonic screwdriver at the ready.

"Oh, Zarbi!" he cried in delight upon noticing the giant ant like aliens. Cerise gave him a _seriously? _Look and grumbled "ribs, broken! Get excited later!" The Doctor hurried over and helped her into the TARDIS. "Yes, sorry about this" he told the Zarbi over his shoulder, "by the way, you might want to reinforce some of your surface tunnels".

Marina ran forward upon seeing Cerise. "Wait!" Cerise cried out, before wincing again. "I broke my ribs" she explained more quietly, and both Marina and Clara winced as well in sympathy. The Doctor lifted her off her feet, taking care not to touch the side with the broken ribs. He carried her to the infirmary and ran some sort of alien scanning device over her side.

Much to Cerise's relieved surprise, the pain diminished considerably and then vanished altogether. "Bone regenerator" explained the Doctor, waving the device at her. Cerise gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Doctor. You wanna go meet the Zarbi, don't you?" she guessed, smirking, and he nodded. "I just really want to find out what they're doing down there and not on Vortis" he admitted.

So they re-emerged from the TARDIS and back into the ghostly lit cave. "Hello! I'm the Doctor, this is Marina, Cerise and Clara" he introduced them all, smiling pleasantly. "Intruders! You will be brought before our Queen for a swift justice!" cried the nearest Zarbi. The Doctor stared. "Fascinating!" he exclaimed, "they seem to have developed sentience!"

Cerise rubbed her ear and said "Just because they're shouting, doesn't mean you have to". He gave her an apologetic look. They were ushered before the swollen Queen, who waved her feelers at him threateningly. "Why have you come to threaten my colony?" she demanded. "Oh, we haven't, your highness. We were just curious, that's all" said Marina.

One of the Zarbi pointed at Cerise. "That one must be the scout; it arrived first and summoned the others" it rasped. Cerise scowled. "Yeah, I'm a 'she', thanks very much. And I wouldn't have even _been _down here if your tunnels hadn't collapsed" she accused, and shivered. "You might want to install central heating too" she muttered under her breath.

The Queen remained convinced that they were a threat, and ordered them executed. "Run!" shouted the Doctor. They turned and hightailed it back to the TARDIS, dodging ants and stalagmites. Once they were safely back in the TARDIS, they looked at one another and burst out laughing. "You know I can never remember" said Clara when they'd calmed down. "Stalagmites and stalactites, which one's which?"

"Oh that's easy" Cerise answered dismissively. "Stalactites have a 'c' in them for ceiling, and stalagmites have a 'g' in them for ground. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a hot bath and a _long nap_" she said firmly.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or Walking With Beasts

A/N: Sorry for the late update folks! Well, the folks who may or not be reading this. Leaving a review is a great way to show you've read the story, you know. Hint, hint.

Anyway, my friend and I have been on holiday in Spain, and I've been working on a few other stories, including Hope's First. Give it a read if you're a fan of 'Beautiful in Blue'. Well, I've rambled enough.

Vworp On

Chapter Twelve 

"Doctor, guess what!" Marina cried happily as she ran into the console room. "I've lost weight!" The Doctor was beneath the console on his hands and knees. "Oh, sorry about that – speaking of losing things, I've lost a circuit board, you haven't seen it have you?" he asked distractedly. Marina rolled her eyes. "Doctor, you're not _listening_" she said exasperatedly.

The Doctor crawled out from under the console and jumped to his feet. "What? Oh, right, you lost weight. That's a good thing, right?" he asked. Marina shook her head in fond annoyance. "Yes, yes it is. Hey, Cerise!" she said, grinning as her best friend walked in from another entrance. Cerise walked over and gave Marina a hug. "I think all this running is doing me good. I just went on the scales in my bathroom, and I've lost two pounds!" smiled Marina.

Clara entered the console room last of all. "Right then, Clara Oswald, it's your turn to choose where to go. Any time, any place" the Doctor said grandly. She took a few moments to consider it. "Dinosaurs" she said finally. The Doctor made to input the co-ordinates, when Cerise added, "C'mon, Clara, where's your imagination? Everyone wants to see dinosaurs. I'd rather see an indricothere" she said casually.

Marina's eyes widened in excitement. "Hey…yeah!" she exclaimed, high fiving Cerise. "Sorry, what's an… indocathere?" Clara asked in complete confusion. "Indricothere" Cerise corrected. "A prehistoric mammal from the Oligocene Era, like a cross between a giraffe and a rhino, but bigger, _way _bigger" she explained. "Cerise and I saw them on _Walking With Beasts" _added Marina.

"Oh, I've seen that. It's a great series, even if it is highly inaccurate at times. Still, they did the best they could" said the Doctor, before clapping his hands together. "Right, so what's it gonna be? Jurassic or Oligocene?" he asked. His companions looked at one another. Then Clara shrugged and said, "Oligocene, I suppose. This snog box of yours is a time machine, we can visit the Jurassic before afternoon tea" she joked. The Doctor reset the co-ordinates, mumbling in annoyance about how his TARDIS "was not a snog box".

/

Armed with hats, water bottles and sunglasses, sufficiently coated in sun-cream (factor five thousand), the foursome stepped out into the baking desert. "Not very convivial, is it?" commented the Doctor. Besides him, Cerise added, "We must have landed in the dry season. I told you the water bottles were a good idea" she smirked.

"And I told you that putting thermo-rings around them to keep them cold was as well" the Doctor retorted. A short glance around showed they were all alone, no indricotheres in sight. "Are you sure we're not in the Gobi Desert or something?" asked Clara. Before the Doctor could defend his rubbish driving skills, they felt an earth-shaking thud. And then another, and another.

They looked at one another as the ground continued to tremble. "There's only one thing that could be doing that" said Cerise, running behind the TARDIS. "Yes! Mar, Doctor, Clara come on! Look!" she shouted, pointing. They joined her behind the TARDIS and saw, heading for them at impressive speeds, a large creature and a smaller one. "Aww, it's got a baby!" said Marina.

The indricothere continued to stomp towards them, its calf trotting along a little way behind. "I'm not so sure that's a good thing" said Cerise, without taking her eyes off the approaching colossus. "If the mum sees us and thinks we're a threat, we're gonna end up as pancakes" she pointed out. "What do we do?" asked Clara. Cerise shrugged. "Hope it doesn't look down, I guess" she replied.

Unfortunately, the indricothere did appear to see them, and stopped dead, snorting. It swung its head in a threatening fashion, one huge foot pawing the ground. The calf hid beneath its mother's belly. "Don't move!" hissed the Doctor. The mother continued to stamp and snort, trying to scare the creatures off but unwilling to go near them. The Doctor and his companions began to back away. When they were about ten feet from the indricothere, she finally calmed down and walked on, knocking into the TARDIS as she passed.

The Doctor ran forward as soon as the indricotheres had gone, and checked the damage to his ship. A large chunk of wood had been knocked out, much to his annoyance. "That was awesome!" Cerise grinned. "I've got to admit, that was pretty cool. Except for, y'know, the whole nearly getting flattened thing" said Clara.

"That was so awesome! That indricothere was _huge!_" Marina said, awed. Her grin spread across her whole face. Cerise slung an arm around her shoulders and said, "So the question now is, do we stay near the TARDIS where it's safe, or do we follow the huge indricothere into unknown peril?" she asked. There was a pause before they all chuckled. "Unknown peril it is!"

/

It was hot. Murderously hot. The three young women could feel their skin roasting. "Doctor, aren't you boiling hot in that shirt?" asked Clara. The Time Lord had tied his jacket around his waist, but was still wearing a long sleeved shirt. "Time Lords can regulate their body temperature at will" explained the Doctor. "Good for bloody old you" Cerise grumbled, gulping a swig of wonderfully cold water.

They headed for a copse of evergreen trees that provided some much desired shade. Cerise had insisted that they shouldn't run in this heat, which was true, but the indricothere and her calf had left them far behind. They left the TARDIS far behind, and the upshot was that they'd gotten completely lost.

Cerise lay down in the dust, and closed her eyes. She was utterly exhausted. A shiver down her spine made her look around, and she froze when she spotted, behind the evergreens, a hyenadon stalking them. The prehistoric predator was enormous, not as big as the indricothere, but still…she and the others would be little more than afternoon snacks. The hyenadon stopped, staring right at her, as if judging whether she was live prey or mere carrion.

"Doctor, help, we're being hunted" she said fearfully. The Doctor came to look and saw the hyenadon, but that movement was enough to spur the predator into action. Cerise scrambled to her feet, terrified, as Clara and Marina did the same. She ran for her life, still clutching onto her water bottle and not even looking back to see if the hyenadon was chasing her or if the others were getting away.

Cerise continued to run as fast as she could in the baking heat, heading for a pile of broken rocks to climb up to safety. She could hear footfalls behind her and prayed that it was her friends and not the hyenadon. She didn't dare look back.

When she reached the rocks, there was a young indricothere there. Cerise dodged the herbivore and scrambled onto a rock, finally looking back over her shoulder. The Doctor, Marina and Clara were nowhere to be seen, and the indricothere was charging at the hyenadon. Her heart racing, Cerise swallowed several mouthfuls of water to soothe her parched throat. She felt terrible about leaving Marina, she'd just…panicked. Maybe if she hadn't ran, the hyenadon wouldn't have chased her.

On the bright side, she probably distracted the predator. On the not so bright side, now it had left, probably to go and hunt her friends as easier prey. Cerise jumped when she felt something snuffle her sandaled foot. It was the juvenile indricothere. She glanced at the water bottle and shook it. "You want some?" she asked. The young mammal whined.

Feeling pitying, Cerise opened the bottle and carefully tipped it into the indricotheres mouth. It sucked the water down eagerly, and when she pulled away, it was only a quarter full. "You were thirsty, weren't you?" she muttered, when a completely crazy idea occurred to her. _I can't do that _she thought. _It could kill me…then again, it might not. It might help me save the others…I can't do nothing. Oh, what the hell? _

Moving very slowly so as not to startle the young indricothere, Cerise moved away from its head and towards its back, where its neck attached. She took a moment to steel herself, and then vaulted onto the indricotheres back. As she expected, the youngster squealed loudly and bucked. Cerise's stomach flipped over. She clung on with one arm around its neck, and held the water bottle out in front of it with the other.

Just as she'd hoped, the indricothere stopped bucking and instead strained to reach the water. She kicked it in the side and it lurched back with a grunt towards the copse of trees which she could just about make out. Cerise dug her heels in and the indricothere broke into a trot, stretching its neck out for the water bottle. "Giddy up!" she laughed.

For all its bulk the indricothere moved fast, and quickly caught up to Cerise's friends. It brayed loudly at the sight of the hyenadon, which growled and stalked away. When the predator had disappeared from sight, Cerise let the indricothere have another drink. "Good boy…or girl. Can't really tell from up here" she mused. "Cerise, you're…you're _riding _it!" exclaimed Marina.

Cerise scrambled down from the suddenly very tall juvenile and winced, rubbing her sore thighs. "Ow. I do not recommend doing that. Oh, you're a boy. Sorry, Marina" she apologised, limping over to her best friend and giving her a hug. "I didn't mean to just leave you guys behind, I just…had the fight or flight reaction, and I picked flight. Speaking of flight, can we go back to the TARDIS now? I'm so tired, and I _seriously _need a shower".

So once the Doctor had picked up the TARDIS' signal with his sonic screwdriver, they headed off back to the time machine. All four of them kept their eyes peeled for more hyenadons. Cerise looked back over her shoulder and chuckled. "Hey guys, we got a tag-along" she grinned. They all looked and saw the young indricothere trotting along behind them, probably following the smell of the water in their half full, or in Cerise's case empty, bottles.

Cerise giggled. "Can I keep him?" she asked the Doctor as she walked besides him. "No" he replied at once.

"I'll pick up after him!"

"Still no"

"He won't take up _that _much room"

"I'm not listening!"


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

A/N: I would love some reviews. I'd also love someone to make a TV Tropes page for one of my stories. Any of them, it doesn't matter which. If you know how to make a TV Tropes page, let me know!

Vworp On 

Chapter Thirteen 

The first thing the Doctor said to his two companions (Clara was taking her charges to the cinema) was "you're going home". Cerise and Marina grinned in delight and hurried to the console. "You found our home?!" Marina asked eagerly. The Doctor scratched his cheek and shifted awkwardly. "Yes, sorry, that might have been a bit misleading. I err, haven't found your home _universe, _exactly. I've landed in the alternate version of your home town. The TARDIS is going to do a scan and collect data to help narrow down the search" he explained.

Both the girl's faces fell. "Next time please _think _before you speak" said Cerise, rolling her eyes. "Can we still go out there?" asked Marina. "Of course, it's your home town, sort of. Just be careful to avoid yourselves, if you even exist here, and your family. Because they won't be your family, remember that" the Doctor warned them. After promising not to interact with their alternate selves or alternate family members (although Cerise doubted they'd even run into them), the girls stepped out of the TARDIS. The Doctor remained behind.

They found themselves at the train station, with the cinema on the other side of the street. "Chambers might be here. We could go look" said Marina, starting to walk off. Cerise stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Mar, just remember, if Al and Nicky are there they might not know us...then again, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to peek in and see if our alternate selves are there. Just because we can't talk to them doesn't mean we can't see if they exist, right?" she decided.

They crossed the busy street and strolled up the street to their favourite café. Sure enough it was there, albeit with a different colour scheme. They went inside and saw two boys having the exact same food and drinks that they had back in their universe. The owner, Al, who had a moustache in this universe, looked up from the counter. "Hello. Welcome to Chamber's Corner, what can I get you?" he asked. He didn't recognise them, which meant they probably didn't exist in this world.

"Here is your re-fill Joey" said Nicky, pouring some chocolate milkshake into the blonde haired boys' glass. Marina gasped. "You're name's Joey?" she asked the boy, who nodded. "Um, yeah, and this is my best friend Ian" he replied. Cerise recognised the other boy as her older brother, only six years younger. Marina suddenly ran out of the café, and Cerise followed. "Hey, Mar? It's great that Joey's alive here. You can talk to him!" she encouraged.

But Marina shook her head. "I don't want to" she said sadly. "Why? Don't you want to get to know him?" replied Cerise. "Yeah I know, but, remember what the Doctor said, I know how he felt when he and his old companions Rose and Mickey travelled to Parallel Earth and she met her father Pete. And he was dead in the real world and they never had her in the Parallel Earth".

"Yeah, I remember that." said Cerise. "We don't exist in this universe. And they don't know who we are. He's not really my brother" said Marina. "I want to go back to the TARDIS. I can't bear this." She started to run away, crying her eyes out. "Marina, wait!" called Cerise. She thought she noticed someone familiar on the other side of the street, but dismissed it. Then she realised who it was and turned to look again, but the person was gone.

Marina ran into the TARDIS and pushed past the Doctor. "Cerise, is Marina alright?" The Doctor asked. "No, she isn't," replied Cerise. "We've just seen our two brothers, Ian and Joey, in the café we usually hang out in back in our own universe. Marina's upset because back home a few years ago, when she was in primary school _way_ before she came up north with her mum and dad, back in her old home town, her brother was stillborn. And I think it hurt her to see him alive and not recognise her. Could you help her in some way?"

"I'll go and talk to her. You wait here" said the Doctor, before making his way to Marina's room. He found Marina on her bed crying. "Oh, Marina. I know how you feel. Meeting your brother who exists here but not in your world." Marina perked her head up and saw him smiling. "Oh, Doctor. I'm sorry I pushed past you like that. I… I just couldn't bear it" she sobbed.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. "It's alright, I'm right here. I know how losing a friend or a loved one can break your heart, especially one you never knew. And you and Cerise have helped me to overcome my loss, now I can return the favour. I think you should talk to Joey" he told her. Marina wiped her puffy eyes and took a deep breath. She thought about it hard. "Okay, I will. It's my one chance" she decided firmly.

They returned to the console room where Cerise was waiting. She gave her best friend a warm hug. "You okay?" she asked. Marina nodded. "I'm going to go back to the café, and talk to Joey. Are you going to come too and talk to Ian?" she asked Cerise, who shook her head. "Nah, I'll just…wander around town for a bit. See what's different here. Oh by the way, you might want to pretend you've got a boyfriend" she added.

Marina blinked in confusion. "A…a boyfriend, why?" she questioned. Cerise smirked. "Well, if Joey doesn't know you're his sister, he might accidentally ask you out" she teased. Marina blushed. The girls bid goodbye to the Doctor for a second time and left the TARDIS once more. The Doctor stroked the TARDIS console. "See, I promised you I'd stay with you for a while" he reminded her. The time machine hummed happily.

Cerise and Marina went their separate ways, one to the café and one into town. Something was bugging Cerise, so she tried to take her mind off of it by seeing what was different in this universe compared to hers. Meanwhile, Marina had reached the café and walked back inside. "Back again? Everything alright?" asked Al. "Yeah, sorry about running off earlier. I'd um…forgotten my purse. Can I have a chocolate milkshake with marshmallows and sprinkles please?" she asked.

"Yes of course" he replied. Marina sat down, opposite Joey and Ian. "So, what sort things do you like to do?" she asked him. "I study digital media at university, it's a blast. I also do football and a bit of guitar" he replied. "Oh my goodness, I'm on the same course…I don't go to your university, of course. I go to err, Hull. I'm here on holiday. What about you, Ian?" she asked her friends brother. "Me? Oh, I take business studies" he replied.

Then Alan came and gave Marina her milkshake. "You like chocolate milkshake with marshmallows and sprinkles, just like me" said Joey, and Marina laughed. "Yeah, we sure do have a lot in common…it's almost like, you're another version of _me_" she told him, hoping he'd get the hint. "You mean like a soul mate?" he asked, and Marina quickly shook her head. "No! No, not like that, I mean…like déjà vu, but with people" she said. It wasn't the right word but she could never remember that.

Then she told them about her best friend, Cerise. "She's got a sister, Lucy, and an older brother, his name's Ian, same as yours" she told Ian. "What about you?" asked Joey, "do you have any siblings?" Marina nodded. "Helen and Mike, they're both older than me. I…I was going to have a little brother, but he…he died when he was born" she said sadly. Joey smiled sympathetically.

Ian excused himself, leaving Marina and Joey together. Joey boasted about all his achievements and Marina felt proud of her little brother. He was her brother, no matter what the Doctor said. "Hey, listen, I've gotta get going. I'll see you around, yeah?" he said after an hour or so. "Um, yes, it was great meeting you" Marina said awkwardly. Joey held out his hand to shake and was very surprised when the girl he'd just met hugged him, and then walked off.

"You got a new girlfriend, Joey?" Nicky teased him. Joey shook his head. "I dunno why, but something about Marina seemed…weirdly familiar" he said distractedly. And the thought of asking her out just felt…wrong, for some reason.

Meanwhile, Cerise and Marina had reunited outside the TARDIS. "Did you have a nice time with Joey?" asked Cerise. "Yeah, he's had a great life here by the sound of it. I'm proud of him. What about you?" inquired Marina. Her friend shrugged. "Eh, not much is different here. There's no Sea Life Centre, for one thing, and _Brunswicks _shopping centre is gone…" they stepped into the TARDIS, which dematerialised, still talking about their same but slightly different alternate hometown.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

A/N: So just as the last chapter was a Marina centred one, this is a Cerise centred one. Please read and review!

Vworp On 

Chapter Fourteen 

Cerise fidgeted in bed for about ten more minutes before she gave up sleeping as a lost cause. Huffing, she dragged herself from the warm but stifling covers and pulled on her dressing gown. The TARDIS hummed in what she assumed was concern. She yawned. "I'm fine. Just gotta ask the Doctor something" she muttered, putting on her slippers.

No matter how tired she was, she couldn't sleep, because something had been bugging her almost all day and night. She would have talked to Marina about it, but Marina had had enough on her plate thinking about Joey. Cerise didn't have the heart to wake her best friend up. The only person she could talk to was the Doctor, and she found herself on the threshold of the console in no time at all.

Her nerve nearly failed her, but then the Doctor spotted her hovering and beckoned to her. "Can't you sleep?" he asked her as she came over. "No, I'm sleepwalking" Cerise said snarkily. The Doctor let it slide. "All the data on your hometown – well, this version anyway - that the TARDIS collected is definitely helping narrow down the search for your universe. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough, I can feel it" he said excitedly.

Cerise smiled. "Great" she sighed. "Cerise, what's wrong? I thought you'd have been happy about that" the Doctor said, concerned. "I am, honest, it's just…it's been bothering me…" Cerise took a deep breath, "I saw my mum today, right on the other side of the street. And I…for a minute I didn't _recognise _her". She looked at the Doctor with a lump forming in her throat. "What if…what if I stay too long and forget"-

"You won't" he reassured her. "You won't forget them. We both know that nothing's ever really forgotten. Certainly not your family" he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. Cerise wiped her eyes and smiled, hugging him back. "Are we in the Vortex?" she asked when the hug had ended. "Oh, no, we're just floating in space. Here, I'll extend the air shell. You can have a look outside". He flicked some switches and turned some dials.

Rather than try to figure out what he was doing, Cerise walked over to the doors and cautiously pulled them open. She kept one hand on the wall in case the Doctor had pressed the wrong button and she was about to be sucked out. Her mouth dropped open slightly at the sight. A huge expanse of velvety midnight blue, darkening to indigo and inky black the further out she stared, and splattered with glowing pinpricks of light.

And that was just the background. Closer by was a nebula, looping and swirling clouds of gas and dust backlit by two red giant suns. It seemed close enough to touch. "You have got to see this" she called back to the Doctor without taking her eyes off the nebula. He joined her at the doors a moment later, making her think he'd been standing behind her the whole time. "It's amazing. Where are we? I mean what part of the universe is this?" she asked him.

"The north" replied the Doctor. Cerise snorted. "The universe has a north?" she asked incredulously. "Everything has a north" he quipped back. Then he looked back out at the nebula with…a rather sad expression. Cerise hesitated, wondering if she should ask him about it, when he answered anyway; well, sort of. "If you want co-ordinates, though, it's 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre".

The Whovian part of Cerise's brain rummaged through all her _Doctor Who _trivia and she remembered those co-ordinates were for…Gallifrey. "Oh. So, is all that…" she gestured to the cloud of dust (of ash) in front of them. The Doctor nodded. "All that's left" he sighed heavily. Cerise looked the other way and grimaced. Then a thought occurred to her and she looked back at the Doctor. "Okay, I can see why you're sad. But you know, if those stars supernova, what's left might make a new planet. Or a star, like the one you made for Akhaten" she pointed out.

There was a pause, long enough to make her worry she'd offended him. Then the Doctor smiled. "Might do, I never really thought to check. It does happen. The regeneration of the universe" he muttered. Cerise sat down and dangled her legs over the edge of the floor, the Doctor following suit a moment later. "Y'know, most people would see this and think they don't really matter, but I think they do. Everything does. The universe is the sum of its parts and we are a part of the universe" she paraphrased…well, she thought it was _A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. _

"You say very deep things sometimes, don't you?" the Doctor asked in amusement. Cerise shrugged. "Someone has to. Plus, I'm right. Everything's important for some reason, even if it's not a good one. Like wasps, or the Daleks" she said with conviction. The Doctor frowned. He couldn't see how the Daleks could ever be important, for any reason. He thought the universe would be better off without them, frankly. "What's so important about the Daleks?" he questioned.

Cerise bit her lip. "Well, they _did_ make you who you are now, that's sort of important" she told him. The Doctor stared at her; actually it was more like a glare. "I am _nothing _like the Daleks" he said through gritted teeth, and Cerise scowled. "I never said you were!" she exclaimed, glaring right back. "Just jump to conclusions, why don't you?"

The Doctor sighed. "Sorry" he apologised, and Cerise huffed. "It's okay" she muttered, obviously still miffed. "Look, what I meant was…so the Daleks are all about death and destruction, right? I just think if they never existed, or you never had to fight against them, you wouldn't care so much about life and protecting. Like a 'if you hate this I'm gonna like it even more' kind of thing" she explained vaguely. The Doctor more or less got the point.

When it came to his arch enemies he was certain there was nothing good in them, nothing good about them…but maybe they were good for something, even if it was just to show him what he was capable of. "They've done horrific things out of fear of me" he reminded her. "You're an inspirational person" she replied with a small shrug, "It's not your fault if you can't control what you inspire in others. I mean Martin Luther King, he inspired people to fight against inequality, and he also inspired someone to assassinate him". She added sheepishly, "maybe that was a bad example".

They both chuckled, and then Cerise yawned. "You should go back to bed" the Doctor suggested, and she frowned. "No. I'm not letting you have all the fun. Also, you're better than the Daleks. For one thing your plans aren't _nearly _as half-baked as some of theirs" she giggled, "like that Reality Bomb thing. Look, I'm serious, right, Davros wanted to destroy reality and every universe in existence…but what was he planning to do _afterwards? _Why does no one who threatens to destroy all of existence ever say what they're going to do if they win?"

Both she and the Doctor were sniggering now. "Now that I think about it, they never do, do they? So… you think I'm 'inspirational'" he said when he'd caught his breath. Cerise was still giggling like a loon. "Yeah" she gasped, grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. She was so overtired. "Hmm, it's not the first word I'd choose to describe myself" he mused. By now Cerise had calmed down enough to ask him, "so what is?"

The Doctor gave her a suspicious glance. "Is this more therapy?" he asked suspiciously. She made an 'I surrender' gesture. "I'm just making conversation" she insisted. The Doctor swung his legs idly and said "If you really want to know, it's…selfish" he mumbled so quietly that Cerise thought she'd misheard. "Doctor, do you know what the word 'selfish' means?" she inquired, speaking slowly as if to a rather dim child.

He glowered at her. "Of course I do. It's when someone only cares about themselves" the Doctor answered, not sure where Cerise was going with this or if he'd like it. "Exactly, so do you think a selfish person would save planets all the time without thanks, or indeed at all? And has it ever occurred to you that _everyone's _selfish because it's, oh I don't know, something that keeps us alive?" she asked sarcastically.

_Of course it's therapy; I should've known _the Doctor thought to himself. "No, but a selfish person would screw up their friends lives" he argued. "And you _haven't_ screwed up your friends lives" Cerise said exasperatedly. Before the Doctor could argue or protest, she went on. "Okay look, a selfish person would keep people with them whether it was best for those people or not. A selfish person would care more about their feelings than their friends' feelings. In fact a selfish person wouldn't even _have _friends. You're not selfish. You've got flaws, yeah, but being selfish isn't one of them".

"Oh thanks, I feel so much better" the Doctor said sarcastically. Then he smiled. "Okay, maybe I'm not that selfish" he admitted, and Cerise grinned victoriously, and then yawned. "Okay, you're tired. You're going back to bed" the Doctor asserted. Cerise didn't bother protesting as he helped her to her feet. She swayed dizzily on the spot, nearly falling out of the TARDIS, so he picked her up and carried her back to her bedroom.

He laid her back in her bed and she hugged a pillow to her like a teddy bear. He smiled and leaned down to whisper "Goodnight, Cerise. And thank you". She was fast asleep by the time he'd left the room.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On

Chapter Fifteen

A door slid open, sending light streaming into the windowless cell beyond. The inmate looked up from his place on the narrow bunk, eyes widening in horror. "No, please! Please!" he cried out to no avail. The guards dragged him to a sterilised room and restrained him at the wrists and ankles. "I've learned my lesson, really! Let me go! I'll never do it again!"

A lab coated scientist injected a glowing substance into the man's neck, and he became limp in moments, but his eyes remained open. After about fifteen minutes, the guards carried the man's body and left him on a bed in a room filled with similar stricken people.

/

Sounds of a materialising TARDIS emanated from a cupboard. Inside the time machine, the Doctor grandly flung open the doors with a cry of "Behold, California!" A mop fell over. "A closet in California?" asked Clara, from behind the Doctor. "Possibly, yes" he replied, straightening his bowtie in embarrassment. After negotiating their way out of the crowded utility closet, the foursome found themselves in a building with male and female toilets on one side and a range of supplies on the other.

Cerise had always wanted to learn to surf, but never did due to being scared of drowning, dragged out to sea, or eaten by a shark. After he'd stopped teasing Cerise about her paranoia, the Doctor offered to take them to California (the planet, not the state), where he knew a guy that could teach them all to surf in a relatively safe environment. They stepped out of the building into pouring rain, into a concrete yard with a concrete and barbed wire guarded building. Somewhere that did not look much like California.

"Seems to be some sort of prison" said the Doctor, before walking off towards the ominous looking building. "You're just going to walk right in through the front doors?" Clara asked incredulously, as the young women caught up with the Time Lord. "Well think about it" Cerise said on her other side, "if you go in the front door, no one can accuse you of trespassing".

At the 'front door', that being a wrought iron gate, they were waylaid by two guards armed with laser pistols. The Doctor flashed the psychic paper at them. "John Smith, Justice and Law Enforcement department, surprise inspection; and this is Cerise, Marina and Clara– psychologist, forensic expert, hacker" he introduced them, pointing to each companion in turn.

The guards allowed them through the gates, and once they were out of view, the Doctor led the girls around the side of the building. "What were you saying about trespassing, Cerise?" he asked mischievously, using the sonic to open a locked door. They found themselves in a large room filled with tables, and a body on each of those tables. "Are…are they dead?" asked Marina.

The Doctor scanned the nearest body, a human woman, with his sonic. "Slow heart rate, slow breathing, no muscle activity, brainwaves normal"… he repeated the scan on the next person, a red humanoid, and found the exact same results. "They're still aware" he realised, "trapped in a living death. They can't move or feel but they can hear or see and they can't fall unconscious" he revealed, voice darkening with anger.

Clara spotted writing on the boards at the end of each table. "They're criminals, Doctor. This man raped ten young women and that alien is a serial killer" she told him. "And you think that means they deserve this torment?" the Doctor demanded furiously. Clara took a step back in alarm. "No, but maybe they had to be" she suggested. Just then, another door opened and a guard turned on the main lights. They all blinked in the sudden glare.

/

Five minutes later, the four time travellers were standing in a laboratory with a manacled table in the middle of it. "You're punishing criminals by trapping them in a living hell. I'd ask you why but I already have a pretty good idea and it sickens me. I am, however, rather interested in the 'how'" said the Doctor. The warden held up a corked vial of glowing blue liquid. "Distilled from the Mecanika fruit; a powerful hallucinogenic. It weakens the mind and allows a strain of non-sentient Tactire we cultivate to invade the prisoner's mind" he explained.

"What's a Tactire?" asked Clara. "A type of psychic parasite" explained the Doctor, before glaring at the warden. "Let me tell you now that this ends today. As for who is going to end it – I am. I'm the Doctor" he threatened. There was a long and terrible pause. "Never heard of you" the warden said unconcernedly. "And I doubt we have to worry since soon none of you will speak or move again. Lock the women in empty cells and process him. They trespassed, technically they broke the law. Only criminals are processed here" he ordered.

Cerise, Clara and Marina shouted and struggled as the guards dragged them from the room, and more guards strapped the Doctor to a table. They injected the hallucinogenic drug into his neck. He fell limp at once, struggling to raise his barriers against the psychic parasite, but with the drug in his system it had easy access. In a last ditch effort, he forced himself into a lucid dream state to fight the parasite himself.

As the helpless Time Lord fell unconscious, his companions were being dragged to cells in the prison. In desperation, Cerise kicked the shin of the guard holding her with her metal foot, as hard as she could. The man grunted and his grip loosened slightly, just enough for her to slip her arms from her jacket and sprint down the corridor. She had no idea where to go or what to do; she just knew she had to get back somehow for her friends.

/

The Doctor found himself in an ever shifting landscape, one moment a futuristic cityscape, then a crimson meadow, and then an amethyst and emerald beach. He spun around dizzily in a circle, trying to get his bearings. Eventually his surroundings settled down into a twisting maze of corridors. It reminded him of the Minotaur's lair and he shuddered. "_What are you waiting for?" _a bodiless but familiar voice called around them.

He jumped and looked around in confusion. "_Don't just stand around, young man. Your mind is under attack" _said his first self's voice. "I…what do I do?" he asked. "Follow me!" called yet another voice, from behind him. The Doctor turned to see a small boy with dusky blonde hair standing at the end of the corridor. "Theta?" he said in confusion, staring at his child-self. The boy turned and ran down the corridor. "Hey, wait, come back!" the Doctor cried, hurrying after him.

/

Laser blasts ricocheted through the corridor as Cerise weaved to the right and left, running as fast as she could, stopping the guard chasing her from getting a clear shot. She dodged around a corner and dashed down the corridor, only to find to her horror that it was a dead end. She tried to double back, and find another way around, but the guard had caught up to her. Cerise backed up against the wall, scared. The guard aimed his gun at her. "You're causing way too much trouble, girl" he snarled, twisting a dial on the top of the blaster.

"Don't!" she blurted out. "Don't shoot, if you do...you'll make the Doctor angry, you really don't want to make the Doctor angry" she said, wishing she could stop shaking; maybe then she'd actually seem threatening. The guard just laughed. "You think I'm scared of someone with a bowtie? I'm not scared of anything" he sneered, coming even closer to her. Cerise tensed, her eyes flicking from the barrel to the man. "Nothing? Not even a – Dalek!" she yelled suddenly, pointing behind the man.

To her relief, the guard actually looked over his shoulder. It was little more than a cursory glance, but the adrenaline had improved her reactions, and Cerise dived to the side as fast as she could. She shoved the gun away from her, pivoting on one foot and kicking out with the other. She caught the guard in a…sensitive area…and he doubled up in pain, the gun slipping from his fingers. Cerise grabbed it and shoved past him, running back the way she came.

/

Theta waved to him from the end of the other corridor. "Hurry, this way!" he shouted. When the Doctor had caught up the boy took off again, to the right, then the left, then the right again. _Was I always this fast as a kid? _The Doctor wondered as he struggled to keep up with his child-self. "Slow down!" he called, but Theta just turned and grinned at him. "Come on, slowpoke!" the boy teased, running down the corridor. He reached the end and said "You're here now, good luck!"

"Wait, I'm where? Theta, come back!" the Doctor shouted. He tried to catch up and ran straight into a sheet of glass with a thud. "_OW!" _Rubbing his sore nose, the Doctor turned back to find another way around, but then froze in fear; shadows were creeping nearer to him, extinguishing the light that came from everywhere at once. He turned back to the glass and tried to sonic it, only to find his sonic screwdriver had disappeared. He shoved against it, willing it break or move or do _something. _

All the while he was uncomfortably, painfully aware of _something _approaching him. Something dark and sinister stalked behind him, drawing ever closer, and his blood thundered through his hearts and his chest grew tighter. A shiver ran up and down his spine. He was utterly terrified. _Why am I so scared? _he wondered even as his unease increased. He didn't even know what it was. _I could just turn around. _He couldn't turn around. He tried, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around…and look.

It couldn't have been more than two feet away from him. He could sense it reaching out to touch him…just a few inches more…he braced himself ready to spin around and face his stalker, when he suddenly found himself falling head first through the glass. By the time he'd scrambled to his feet and looked back, the glass had become a brick wall. "Okay, Doctor officially confused" he muttered.

The Doctor spotted someone looming from the corner of his eye and jumped, but when he looked again he laughed; it was his reflection, only distorted. "Funhouse mirrors" he grinned, pulling silly faces at the curved and twisted panes of reflective glass. One of the mirrors made the Doctor look…like a girl. He ran a hand over it, trying to see how to refracted light in such a way, but it was completely smooth. And then he realised, his 'reflection' hadn't moved.

"Hello" said the girl-Doctor. The Doctor jumped back in alarm. Next to that mirror, another 'reflection' turned and waved at him. "What?" he exclaimed in alarm, staring at the two reflections. Or ghosts, or images, whatever they were. "I'm your anima, and he's your animus. The female side of your personality and the male side of your personality" explained the girl-Doctor reflection. "What are you doing in mirrors?" asked the Doctor.

His anima and animus shrugged. "How should we know? It's your mind" said his anima. The Doctor peered at her curiously. "So…are you what I'd look like if I'd been a girl?" he asked, and she nodded. "Huh, I look good as a woman…wait, wait, hang on. Was that you two behind me back there?" he demanded. They shook their heads. "No, no. That was the Shadow" said his animus. "The Dream Lord, I should've known" the Doctor scoffed. And to think he'd been so scared of that annoying little dwarf.

"Not the Dream Lord" said his anima. "The Shadow is much worse". His animus nodded in agreement. "You were scared out of your wits for a _reason. _The Dream Lord is just annoying compared to the Shadow" he told the Doctor. "I'll try to avoid it then. Now tell me, how do I stop the parasite?" asked the Doctor. He was getting impatient; the longer he spent in this mental madhouse, the longer his companions were in danger.

"We can't tell you what to do, it doesn't work like that" said his anima. "What we _can _do is give you some advice. Your mind is going to show you the way to the parasite and try to stop you reaching it as well. You'll have to figure out for yourself what everything is trying to tell you" explained his animus. Then his anima added "The parasite feeds on negative emotion, the stronger the better, but too much positive emotion will overwhelm it". The lights in the corridor flickered. "Good luck, Doctor. Going down" his anima and animus said at once.

The Doctor began to say, "what do you mean, going down?", when the floor opened up beneath him. Screaming, the Doctor dropped down and landed with a thud on grass that knocked the breath out of him. He managed to get to his feet and groaned when he saw who was standing nearby. "What a nice welcome, flop hair" sneered the Dream Lord.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Vworp On 

Chapter Sixteen 

To Cerise's immense relief, she didn't run into anymore guards as she returned for her friends. As she turned the corner into the cell-lined corridor, she heard shouting and banging coming from the second cell on her right. "Mar, is that you?" Cerise called through the door. "Cerise? Oh thank goodness!" Marina called back. Cerise looked around and spotted a red button next to the door. Praying it would open the door without setting off any alarms, she quickly jabbed it with her finger.

The door slid open, fortunately completely silent, and Cerise embraced Marina happily. "C'mon, we've gotta help Clara" she said. They could hear Clara banging from inside a cell further down the corridor. "Cerise, is that a gun?" asked Marina, spotting the weapon in her best friend's hand. "Huh? Oh yeah, I took it from the guard. I haven't used it" explained Cerise.

They freed Clara, and they were about to rescue the Doctor when one of the guards turned up and spotted them. Cerise quickly stepped forwards and aimed the gun at him, hoping to scare the man off, but he pulled out his own pistol and aimed it at her. Cerise nervously glanced at the gun in her hands, not wanting to use it, and noticed that the dial on top was set to 'kill' – but she could easily set it to 'stun'.

She quickly twisted the dial and pulled the trigger. An arc of electricity shot out at the guard, paralysing him; at least she hoped he was paralysed and not…not… "Cerise!" cried Marina, fearing the worst. Cerise ran forwards and crouched down next to the prone figure, feeling his pulse. It was still there, much to her relief. "He's okay. I mean he's alive, at least. I didn't...I had to" she said shakily. "C'mon, we've gotta go help the Doctor".

/

The Doctor rolled his eyes and jumped to his feet. He was in the ruins of Gallifrey's Citadel, but all was peaceful; no harsh cries of "_Exterminate!_" or screams of the dying. "What, no hug? No fanfare?" asked the Dream Lord in mock hurt. "Oh be quiet, you. I'm trying to figure out which way to go" said the Doctor, trying to ignore him. "Well, I wouldn't go that way if I were you" said the Dream Lord, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. The Doctor promptly began walking in that direction.

"Have you gone deaf? I just said not to go that way!" the Dream Lord called after him. "My anima…didn't even know I had one…said that my mind would try to keep me away from the parasite and lead me to it as well. If you say not to go this way then this way is my best bet" explained the Doctor. Then the Dream Lord said something that made him pause. "Your anima is part of your mind; how do you know she was telling you the truth? How do you know I'm not?"

/

They found their way back to the room the Doctor had been left in. Fortunately it was deserted, apart from the Doctor himself. Clara reached out to shake him awake but Cerise stopped her. "No, don't. It's dangerous to touch him if he's psychically linked to something" she explained. "What do we do?" asked Marina. Cerise shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Just talk to him, you guys, try to get through to him. I'm going to look around, see if I can find anything useful" she replied.

/

For one of the few times in his life, the Doctor didn't know what to do. If every part of his mind was simultaneously helping and hindering him…how could he know what was true or false? Technically speaking, none of it was true, this was all a vivid lucid dream. There had to be a clue, a signal, something…the Doctor thought back over what his anima and animus had told him.

The parasite feeds on negative emotion…how did they know that? Well, because he knew it, obviously. But he was in the ruins of his dead planet, everywhere around him was suffused with negative energy. The path he had chosen…it would lead him to the heart of the Citadel, towards the worst of the carnage. The Doctor made his mind up…he had to stick with his decisions, not hang around second guessing himself. There was no time for that.

He took off at a run, leaving the Dream Lord behind. As he ran down the path he felt like he was being chased, and a shiver ran down his spine. The Shadow was behind him once again. The Doctor willed himself to stop running, turn around and confront his Shadow…but everything within him was screaming at him to hide somewhere, anywhere. He spotted a knocked down wall and dived behind it.

Crouching close the crumbling bricks, the Doctor waited with his breath held as the feeling of terror slowly decreased. When he was certain the Shadow had gone, he stood up again and kept running. He thought he heard Clara calling to him. "Doctor!...Doctor!..please!"; but it must be a memory, he dismissed it, she couldn't be inside his head.

/

"Doctor, wake up, please. You have to wake up now" begged Clara. They'd barricaded the door and tried to prise open the manacles binding the Doctor to the table. It was difficult, especially trying not to touch him. "How'd you know touching him is dangerous, anyway?" Clara demanded. Cerise looked up from where she was rifling through some cabinets. "You know how Mar and I are from a universe where the Doctor's life is a TV show?" she asked.

Clara nodded. That still freaked her out a little; the thought that in another universe people were watching them, talking about them. "I saw an episode once where the Doctor said, he was trying to communicate telepathically with someone and not to touch him, cos his mind could get lost on the astral plane or something. He said it could kill him. I don't wanna take any chances" explained Cerise. Clara thought about it and decided that she was right; it wasn't worth the risk.

/

The Doctor found himself at a crossroads. He would have gone straight on, but something stopped him. Well, not something…_someone, _or rather two someone's; his mother, and Wilfred Mott. The Doctor hesitated, torn between approaching either of them and carrying on down the path. "Doctor, don't go that way!" cried Wilfred, pointing down the path. "It's not safe!"

Part of the Doctor wanted to ignore him and keep going…but the part that trusted Wilf wanted to turn away, go down a different path. What part of his mind did Wilf represent anyway? "Why not, what's down there?" he demanded. "Just don't, don't! It's too dangerous!" the old man begged him. His mother hadn't spoken yet. "What do I do?" he asked her, becoming frustrated. He had to fight the parasite, why was his own subconscious making it so difficult for him?

"You must do what you have always done, my son. But not that way, come this way" she replied. "No, no, this way. It's quicker, it's a shortcut" Wilf said hurriedly. The Doctor shushed him and began pacing, trying to work out what his mother meant. "This is confusing, isn't it?" asked the Dream Lord, sitting on a stool and eating popcorn. "Shut up, you're not helping" growled the Doctor.

What had he always done? He'd always done a lot of things. Ramble, eat sweets, run, usually straight into trouble…that was it! He always ran into trouble, into danger, and if Wilf and his mother said the path ahead was too dangerous…that had to be the right way. He looked at his mother again, wanting to thank her…but he paused. He missed her so much, surely it wouldn't hurt to hug her and tell her he was so, so…

But she glanced up the path, and that was all the encouragement to continue he needed. With a nod, the Doctor set off up the path. He heard Clara and Marina calling him, from very far away. He hoped they were alright. There was no way he could reply without defeating the parasite in his mind.

/

"He won't wake up!" cried Marina, getting more and more worried. What if something terrible was happening to him? Cerise gave her best friend a hug. "Hey, it's okay. He's telepathic, he'll have mental barriers and everything remember? Everything's going to be fine" she reassured Marina, who smiled gratefully. Then someone began to bang on the door and rattle the handle. They all hoped the chair they had wedged in the way would hold fast.

/

It wasn't long before the Doctor arrived at the centre of the city, where most of the buildings were still standing. Of course, the buildings represented his mental barriers, which became stronger as he moved deeper into his subconscious. Of course, all of his mental walls were reasonably strong, and it alarmed him to see how easily the drug and the parasite had damaged them.

He pushed open a heavy door and stepped inside a huge empty hall. There was light filtering through the grimy windows. "Note to self, do mental spring cleaning" the Doctor muttered as he walked through the room, his footsteps echoing as they hit the flagstones. This place…this place was his home on Gallifrey. "Doctor!"

The Doctor spun around at the sound of the scream. "Hello?! Who's there?" he called. "Doctor, help!" He sprinted to the end of the hall, and skidded to a stop, eyes widening in shock. Three pools of light illuminated three very familiar people. The Doctor's stomach lurched and he staggered backwards, the cold wash of fear overcoming him. The Shadow was here somewhere. He spun around, trying to see it, wondering if it was the shadows themselves….

"Doctor!" cried Rose.

"_Doctor!_" cried Donna.

"_DOCTOR!" _cried Amy.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

Vworp On 

Chapter Seventeen 

Clara hurried over to the door and held it closed, as the guards on the other side banged and shouted. "Careful, Clara!" called Marina. Suddenly a laser blasted through the lock and hit the wall on the other side. Cerise jumped to the side with a yelp. The guards shoved the door open, knocking Clara aside. They all stepped backwards, trying to shield the Doctor from view.

"Leave us alone!" begged Marina. "No can do. You know too much, all of you. Now, I'm not a murderer" said the warden, pulling out a pistol and aiming it at Clara in the middle, "but these aren't exactly normal circumstances, are they?"

Without thinking, Cerise raised the gun still in her hands and aimed it at the warden. "Don't even think about it" she threatened. The evil man smirked. "You don't have the guts" he sneered. Cerise frowned, her fingers tightening on the gun. "You don't know that. Like you said, different circumstances" she replied testily. "You shoot me, they shoot you. You can't win this" the warden told her, and Cerise…she knew he was right, although she really wished there was something she could do.

She reluctantly began to lower the weapon, but then stopped. "You shoot, I shoot, they shoot. We'll all go down. _You _can't win this either" she pointed out. The warden glared at her. Cerise glared right back. Marina and Clara watched nervously, tensed ready to duck and dodge the laser beams. After what felt like ages, the warden lowered his gun and motioned to the two guards on either side of him. "We'll lock them in the room. Let them starve almost to death; by then they'll be begging us to shoot them" he said sadistically.

The warden and the guards left, locking the door behind them. "Those men are horrible" said Marina, before hugging Cerise. "That was so brave of you" she praised. Cerise shrugged, embarrassed at the attention. "I had to do _something_ to keep him busy. Oh come on, Doctor, why won't you wake up?" she groaned, looking at the comatose Time Lord. The Doctor's eyes were flickering under his eyelids. "I really hope that means his mind is still fighting the parasite" said Clara.

/

The Doctor stared at his former companions, all three of them bound to wooden posts, in shock and fear. He wasn't afraid of _them, _of course, it was the Shadow. He wished he could see the damn thing…assuming it even had a form. "Doctor, save me first! I love you!" called Rose. "No, save me first! I'm important, I'm your best mate, remember?" cried Donna. "He's _my _best friend. Save me first, Raggedy Man!" begged Amy.

"Save you from what?" asked the Doctor, completely and utterly confused. "The Silence!" answered Amy. "The Vashta Nerada!" Donna replied. "The gas mask zombies!" explained Rose. The Doctor whirled around, trying to spot these enemies…but there was nothing there. "You're not real" he told them regretfully, "whatever you're seeing isn't real and neither are you".

All three women looked heartbroken. "How can you say that?" asked 'Donna'. "I'm real, of course I'm real! Spaceman, you know it's me! I thought we trusted each other" she said tearfully. 'Rose' glared at her. "You might be best friends but the Doctor and I are in love. He trusts me most of all" she shot back. 'Amy' scoffed. "Oh please, he trusts me way more than you two. Did either of you wait twelve years for him? I didn't think so" she smirked.

The Doctor was getting frustrated. "I don't trust any of you" he snapped, "I don't trust you because you're not real! If this is the parasite, trying to get to me, well it's not going to work! So show yourself!" he shouted angrily. "_The parasite feeds on negative emotion!" _he heard his anima whisper in his mind. The Doctor suddenly realised what was going on; the parasite was using his guilt and feelings of loss about his companions against him.

_Doctor…Doctor… _a sinister, rasping bodiless voice whispered right in his ear. The Doctor stiffened, unable to move. "Shadow" he greeted, swallowing; his throat felt like it was full of cotton wool. _Ah, so much faith…and trust…and love, all for you. Don't you feel so special? It's a pity….you're too arrogant to return it. _

"I care…about the _real _Rose Tyler…and Amy Pond…and Donna Noble. They're not real. The real ones are gone…they're never coming back" the Doctor insisted, more to himself than the Shadow. It chuckled. _Whoever said I was talking about them? _

'Mickey Smith', 'Martha Jones' and 'Rory Williams' stepped out of the shadows. Unlike the three women, who were looking at him with near hero worship, these companions had cold expressions. "You _stole _Rose's love. You stole it from _me_" snapped 'Mickey'. "After all I did for you; you couldn't even be bothered to look my way. You trusted me, alright…trusted me to do _whatever you said_" snarled 'Martha'. "I waited _two thousand _years for Amy. That was my choice. You _made _her wait twelve years for you" 'Rory' ground out.

"No…it's not real…it's not real!" the Doctor told himself, fists clenching. His finger nails were digging into his palms. _In the words of Albus Dumbledore _whispered the Shadow. _This is in your head…but why should that mean it's not real? _Then at last, the Shadow withdrew, and the Doctor felt as if he could breathe again.

"Doctor, please, help me" 'Rose' pleaded. "I can't" he lied, "I can't move, but Mickey can, he can help you" the Doctor encouraged. 'Mickey' scowled at him. "Why should I?" he demanded. The Doctor did his best not to let his frustrations get the better of him, knowing it wouldn't help. "Because…because you care about her, mate. I'm sorry I treated you the way I did. It was…wrong of me" he replied. He'd been about to say 'selfish', but stopped himself.

'Mickey's expression softened from hard to accepting, and he untied Rose from the metal post. Neither of them made any move. "I suppose you want me to save Donna for you?" asked 'Martha', a bitterness in her tone that the Doctor hated to hear. "I know I asked too much of you, and I didn't give anything back. You deserved better. Just do this one last thing for me. I never told you but I was always so grateful to you, for everything you did" he told her earnestly.

'Martha' stopped glaring at the Doctor, and made short work of Donna's binds. The Doctor met the eyes of 'Amy' last of all. "I know you, Raggedy Man" she said quietly, "rule one, yeah? You can move". The Doctor couldn't bring himself to lie to her. "Yeah, I can move. I can save you, but I won't. Rory will" he said confidently.

"You sound very sure about that" sneered 'Rory'. "I am sure. You always help Amy, when I can't. Which one of us does she really love? I'm not the one she let herself be killed by a Weeping Angel for" the Doctor pointed out. An accepting smile diminished the coldness of 'Rory's gaze. Before he untied his wife, she exclaimed, "but I want _you _to save me. I need you, Raggedy Man".

The Doctor shook his head and motioned for Rory to continue. "No, you don't. None of you need me anymore" he answered. That was alright, though, he could live with that. It was best this way, his past companions had their own fantastic, brilliant lives to enjoy and he was so proud of them. Once 'Rory' had freed 'Amy', the six former companions came forward and stood beside the Doctor. They all looked up as shadows coalesced into the form of the parasitical Tactire.

The Doctor straightened his bowtie, grimacing at the hideous, bloated, insect-like creature. "Now, that's unusual. No disguise? The last time I met one of your lot, he took the form of my half twin, only with a stupid beard. Oh, but of course, you're as mindless as the invertebrate you look like" the Doctor mocked the parasite, which screeched and clacked its mandibles.

"Oh, shut up and get out of my head" the Doctor said exasperatedly. He caught 'Donna's eye and grinned. She grinned back. He thought of all the times he'd seen that happy smile. 'Rory' and 'Amy' were holding hands. He remembered all the moments the married couple would just…be married, and domestic, and loving. 'Mickey' had his arm around 'Martha's shoulders. He recalled how pleased he'd been to see them together and happy.

The parasite writhed and shrivelled, the inflow of fond, happy thoughts and memories killing it. At last it dissolved into none existence, leaving behind nothing but a dark stain that was soon burnt away by the sunlight pouring in through the windows. "Doctor?" Clara's disembodied voice called out; they must have been trying to wake him all this time. The Doctor turned and embraced 'Amy' and 'Rory'. "Goodbye, Ponds" he smiled at them.

They smiled back. "Farewell Doctor" answered 'Rory'. "Goodbye, Raggedy Man" replied 'Amy'. Then they turned and walked away, fading into mist. The Doctor hugged 'Donna', and as she stepped away she told him, "Don't forget me". He shook his head. "I never will" he promised. 'Donna' beamed at him. "Don't be a stranger" said 'Martha', also giving the Doctor a hug. He decided to pay the Smith-Jones a visit. Speaking of Smiths, he ought to check on Luke.

Finally only Rose was left. "You're happy, yeah?" she asked him. The Doctor thought about it. "Yes, I am" he said finally. Rose gave him a familiar grin and walked away, into the mist. With a final look around, the Doctor strode forwards into the light.

/

He stirred with a moan, feeling the restraints digging into his wrists and ankles. "You guys, he's awake!" exclaimed Marina. His companions gathered around him, faces full of concern. "Doctor, are you alright?" asked Clara. "I'm fine. I would like to get out of these manacles however" the Doctor replied. Clara put her hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. "Just hold it against them and press the switch" he instructed.

The restraints sprang open. "Why didn't you unlock them sooner? The sonic has a telepathic interface, it would have automatically turned to the right setting" explained the Doctor. "We would have tried" Clara began, "but Cerise said touching you would be dangerous". The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Cerise, who blushed slightly. "It _would_ be" she said defensively, "your sixth incarnation told Peri and Jamie not to touch him whilst he was in this psychic trance thing cos it could kill him".

The Doctor remembered that- wait- _that _had been on television as well? He stood up and said "Oh, right. No, it's only dangerous if I'm communicating with another telepath long distance. If I'm just inside my own head then it's perfectly safe" he clarified. Cerise stared open mouthed at him. "I thought...you're kidding. I just…I hate you!" she laughed. "No, you don't" said the Doctor. "And you did the right thing, anyway. Waking me wouldn't have been dangerous but it wouldn't have helped me destroy the parasite".

The only thing left to do was escape back to the TARDIS. Fortunately, the guards appeared to be occupied elsewhere. They made it back to the time machine without being chased, which was a bit of a miracle. "What are we going to do about those horrible people?" asked Marina. "I'll call the Shadow Proclamation. Then I have a few things to sort out, alone, so I'll drop you off on Planet California" explained the Doctor. He pulled down the dematerialisation lever, and the TARDIS left the unnamed planet as quickly as she could.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

A/N: This chapter is a companion-lite one, just tying up some loose ends.

Vworp On 

Chapter Eighteen 

With his companions off learning to surf and sunbathing under the twin suns of planet California, the Doctor set the co-ordinates for Martha Jones' residence. His recent encounter with the Tactire parasite had opened his eyes to the fact that he never properly apologised to Mickey and Martha for the unappreciative way he'd treated them.

To his surprise, the TARDIS didn't take him to the London suburb he was certain they lived in, but to an office building in Cardiff. The Doctor knew he must be there for a reason, so he went off exploring, flashing his psychic paper at anyone he passed to deflect unwanted questioning. As he passed a door on which was taped a sheet of paper with 'CoT Meeting' written in black felt tip on it, he heard what sounded like Jo Grant's voice.

Curious, the Doctor put his ear to the door. "Oh, it was incredible, that old palace! Mind you, getting there was rather hairy. We had to climb up a cliff, the TARDIS had landed on a rock ledge" she was saying. There was a smattering of amused laughter. "Seriously? I knew the Doctor was a rubbish pilot, but that just takes the cake" came Captain Jack's voice. The Time Lord frowned at that.

Pushing open the door, he stepped into the room and pointed at a startled Jack Harkness. "I am _not _a rubbish pilot and that landing was not my fault" he insisted. Then his brain caught up to his eyes and he realised that several past companions, including Mickey and Martha, Jo, Brian and another man he didn't recognise were in the room as well. "Doctor, were you eavesdropping?" asked Brian. Mickey and Martha looked at one another in surprise and then back at this new Doctor.

The Doctor looked around at them all, blushing a bit in embarrassment at his outburst. "Err…no?" They all chuckled. Jo got to her feet and opened her arms for a hug, which he happily returned. "Mmm, I missed you, you know" she told him. "I missed you too. What are you all doing here? I think I'm missing something" the Doctor said with mock suspicion.

"Oh, I'm leading a rally against digging for oil off the coast of Cardiff. It'll completely ruin the Bay's ecosystem. Since I was in the neighbourhood I thought I'd pop in to the meeting. Have you met Anthony yet?" explained Jo, before turning the Doctor to face the handsome man sitting next to Brian. He stood up and offered his hand to shake. "It's an honour to meet you, Doctor. My parents told me so much about you" said Anthony in an American accent.

Having shaken Anthony's hand, the Doctor asked him "Who are your parents then?" No one answered; they just looked at him as if expecting to work it out any minute. A minute later he did. "Oh! You mean the Ponds. Anthony Pond, good name" he nodded, giving Anthony a friendly pat on the shoulder. "It's Anthony Williams" the American corrected him, only to be ignored, but he was expecting that. The other American (or Boeshanenian) asked "So what brings you here, Doc? And what's with the bowtie?"

"One, don't call me Doc. Two, bowties are cool. Three, I was on my way to visit you two" he said to Mickey and Martha, "and four, why haven't you hugged me yet?" he asked with a smile. Martha grinned and hugged him tightly. "Why were you coming to see us?" she asked, knowing that the Doctor never revisited a past companion unless it was something important.

The Time Lord shrugged. "Can't I just visit some old friends for old time's sake?" he asked, only to be answered with a chorus of "no's" from everybody, even Anthony. The Doctor pouted. "A lie would make more sense" he pointed out, before straightening his bowtie out of habit and answering "if you must know, I was recently fighting a psychic parasite and during said battle of wills, I realised that I um, I never exactly said…sorry".

Martha gave him a curious look, one that was mirrored by her husband. "Sorry for what?" asked Mickey. The Doctor was regretting his decision more and more by the minute. Fortunately, Jo seemed to pick up on his discomfort and said with forced casualness, "well, I think I'll just pop off to the loo". Then Jack excused himself, saying he'd go get some more sandwiches for them all, even though there was no sign of any wrappers or crumbs. Brian and Anthony simply left.

With the others gone, the Doctor felt slightly more at ease, but not by much. "I…I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you both enough, and for making you feel second best, ignoring you...acting like you weren't worthy, because you are" he explained. Martha gave him another hug. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's all in the past now" she pointed out, despite being really very touched.

"Besides, if it weren't for you boss, the missus and I would have never gotten together in the first place" Mickey added, putting an arm around his wife's waist. She nudged him playfully in the side with her elbow. The Doctor smiled, and then gestured to the door. "So what does CoT stand for? Jo said you were having a meeting, a meeting about what?" he inquired curiously.

"It was Sarah Jane's idea at first. We used to have the meetings at her place. Jack took over after she...we meet on the last Friday of every month, and chat about things only we'd understand. Like the travelling, the adventures, UNIT and Torchwood, you" explained Martha. "Jack wanted to call the group 'Companions Anonymous', as in Alcoholics Anonymous, but Sarah Jane turned him down. Said it made it sound like we all had unhealthy addictions to time travelling" Mickey revealed.

The Doctor couldn't resist quipping, "you mean you don't?" Then Martha told him what the CoT stood for. "Children of Time; after the whole Reality Bomb adventure, that's when Sarah Jane started all this. I think she wanted us to become closer, like a family" she said wistfully. They were all quiet a moment, thinking of Sarah Jane. The Doctor sat down on a chair, crossed his legs and linked his fingers around his knees. "I don't understand why you kept it a secret. Believe it or not I have lived a…semi normal life before; I know it's hard to adjust" he said, just a little bit hurt.

"In our defence, Doctor" said Jack as he strode back into the room, "you aren't an easy man to get hold of". The immortal dumped two shopping bags, both full to the brim with snack foods, onto the table in the middle of the room. "We try calling and nobody picks up, we try sending a signal via the Rift Manipulator and there's no sign of you, or the TARDIS"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I get it, Jack" he said in exasperation. He wasn't about to tell them that he'd gone out of his way to make sure no one would be able to contact him; that was the whole point of being in Victorian times. "You should have made a crop circle saying 'DOCTOR', Captain. That's how my son and daughter in law got his attention" said Brian as he and Anthony returned. "You're sitting in my chair" he said to the Doctor, who jumped to his feet and offered it back.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Crop circle, eh? I'll have to remember that" he muttered. Jo returned and picked up a ham sandwich with wholewheat bread. "Thank you Captain. So, what are we talking about?" she inquired. "Well since you're here, Doctor, tell us – who are you travelling with now?" asked Brian. "You do have a companion, right?" Martha added. The Doctor leant against the wall and crossed his ankles.

"Three, actually" he replied. "Clara Oswald, Cerise Woods and Marina Rosenthorpe". He wondered how they were getting on with their surfing lessons. "Blimey, three young ladies...I think I'm jealous of this new you, Doctor" smirked Jack. The Doctor stuck his tongue out at the immortal. "Shut up, it's not like that. The girls and I are just friends".

Mickey asked him how he'd met the girls. "I met Cerise and Marina first, in Victorian London, then Clara helped us beat a monster in the Wi-Fi in 2013" the Doctor explained. "The whole Wi-Fi thing couldn't have been easy to explain to the girls from Victorian times" Jack suggested, but the Doctor shook his head and replied, "Marina and Cerise already knew about Wi-Fi, they're from the twenty first century as well".

"Oh, I get it. They were time-displaced, right?" asked Martha. Now it was the Doctor's turn to smirk. "Try again" he said, amused. "They're not Time Agents are they?" Jack guessed. "No, they're just two regular humans from a seaside town in the twenty first century and I just happened to meet them both in the nineteenth" answered the Time Lord, a smug smile on his face.

Jo gave him the sort of look a mother might give a wayward child. "Okay, mister, will you please explain what you mean?" she asked. The Doctor sighed; well, it was fun whilst it lasted. "Cerise and Marina are perfectly normal, except for one thing. They're both from a parallel universe where my adventures are episodes in a sci-fi show on TV" he revealed.

On second thoughts, telling them was worth it just to see their surprised expressions. "What, so they've seen you fighting aliens and saving the Earth on television?" asked Mickey. "Oh, they've seen all of us. Not every adventure, but most of them. It's a very popular programme in their world" the Doctor explained with more than a hint of pride in his voice. "That's a bit spooky" Mickey said, stunned.

"What's the programme called?" asked Anthony. "Doctor Who" answered the Doctor, "and fans of it call themselves Whovians. I've been trying to find a way back to their universe since I met them, but it hasn't been easy. There's a lot of them; universes, that is" he explained. "How'd they even get into this universe?" asked Mickey. "You remember when you, Rose and I ended up in Pete's World?" asked the Doctor, and Mickey nodded.

"The most I can figure out, is that our universe and theirs merged briefly, and opened a rift in space-time which they fell through. Luckily it closed quickly; they're more common thank you think, these rifts. There's one in the Bermuda Triangle, but that one won't stay closed for some reason. Oh, don't worry about the ships and planes" he said hurriedly, noticing the other's expressions, "they're fine…mostly" he added under his breath.

Considering all the bizarre things they'd seen or heard about, the idea that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle was because of a rift in time actually made a considerable amount of sense. "Way to spoil the mystery Doctor" Jack grumbled jokingly, making everyone, including the Time Lord laugh. Then Jo accidentally asked an innocent question that brought silence back into the room. "Surely the other Time Lords would close it if you asked, wouldn't they?"

She realised she'd said something wrong when no one answered, or met each other's gaze. The Doctor suddenly looked so old, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "Oh dear…I didn't mean to upset everybody, I just"- the Doctor held up a hand to cut her off and smiled sadly at her. "It's not your fault…can I talk to you in private for a minute?" he asked. Jo nodded, so he led her out of the room and down the corridor a little way.

After checking that nobody else was around, the Doctor rubbed his face with his hands. "Jo…there's something I didn't tell you, when we last met. I didn't tell you because everything seemed fine, I wanted to pretend it was all fine…you didn't need to know. At least I didn't think so then, but…you're a good friend, and the rest of them know the truth so you should too" he decided.

Jo waited for him to gather his thoughts and tell her what he needed to. "The truth is…there are no other Time Lords. Not anymore. I'm the only one" he revealed. Jo gasped in shock and pity, covering her mouth with her hands. She dropped them slowly and whispered, "Oh…oh you poor thing...I had no idea". She patted his arm, unsure what else to do; she was curious as to what happened, but if the Doctor didn't want to talk about it she wouldn't pry.

As it turned out she didn't need to ask. "You remember the Daleks" he stated, figuring that she would. "How could I forget? Horrid, nasty pepper-pots" she replied anyway. "I was in my eighth incarnation when the Daleks and the Time Lords went to war. My people…they weren't cut out for warfare, and we were losing but we couldn't stop, the Daleks never would. Rassilon, the Lord President", he said this in a bitter tone, "became so insane and desperate to live that he initiated the Final Sanction. To destroy the universe and become beings of pure consciousness".

"The only way to end the War and save the universe was to…to destroy all of them. Time Lords and Daleks together" explained the Doctor. He didn't need to tell her who did the terrible deed; she would know. Not knowing how else to help, Jo wrapped her arms around the Doctor. "Thank you for telling me" she said after a while. It was an awful thing to hear, but it was nice to know he still trusted her enough to reveal such a burden. "Thanks for listening" he replied, grateful that she was as understanding as ever.


End file.
